CK Nayudu Trophy to begin on March 22

The Col. C.K. Nayudu (U-25) Trophy is set to get underway on March 22 at nine different venues across the country.

The tournament that is reverted from U-23 to U-25 from this season was postponed due to the COVID-19 surge in January. In a letter to the state associations, accessed by Sportstar, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has stated that the tournament will follow the same format as the Ranji Trophy.

RELATED| Ranji Trophy: Mumbai declares at 532/9, reduces Odisha to 84/5 in 2nd innings

The 32 teams in Elite League are divided in eight groups of four teams each while the Plate league will have five teams. While the Elite teams are set to compete in Pondicherry, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Indore, Rajkot, Bengaluru, Goa and Delhi, Cuttack will host the Plate group.

The teams are required to assemble in their respective cities on March 17 and serve a three-day quarantine. They will have two days’ training before the first game on March 22. The detailed itinerary will be shared soon, states Shah in his letter.

Besides revising the age-group for the tournament, the BCCI, in a bid to allow participation of deserving domestic cricketers, has done away with the three-player limit of Ranji Trophy players in any team.