Published: Aug 09, 2024, 05:23 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 09, 2024, 05:35 PM (IST)
On August 15, four locations in Tamil Nadu will host the Buchi Babu Invitational multi-day competition.
Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Salem, and Natham are the four locations.
Tirunelveli and Natham are the scheduled locations for the semifinals and final, respectively.
The competition will follow the four-day Ranji Trophy format.
A financial prize of Rs 3 lakh will be awarded to the winner, while Rs 2 lakh will go to the runner-up.
In addition to two local teams, the TNCA President’s XI and TNCA XI, the tournament will include ten state-based teams: Madhya Pradesh (the defending champion), Jharkhand, Railways, Gujarat, Mumbai, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh, Hyderabad, and Baroda.
In the past, the competition marked the beginning of the Indian domestic cricket season, and every Test player would show there.
It lost its luster in recent years and failed to draw major celebrities. The last two players to play while serving as captain of India were Mohammad Azharuddin and Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
Even Sourav Ganguly, who was benched by India’s head coach at the time, Greg Chappell, had played for Buchi Babu in the middle of the 2000s.
Suryakimar Yadav, the captain of the India T20 team, will represent Mumbai in the next edition, nevertheless.
Group A: Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Hyderabad
Group B: Railways, Gujarat and TNCA President’s XI
Group C: Mumbai, Haryana and TNCA XI
Group D: Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh and Baroda
Round 1 (Aug 15-18) : Madhya Pradesh vs Jharkhand, Railways vs Gujarat, Mumbai vs Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir vs Chattisgarh
Round 2 (Aug 21-24): Jharkhand vs Hyderabad, Railways vs TNCA President’s XI, Haryana vs TNCA XI, Jammu & Kashmir vs BAR
Round 3 (Aug 27-30): Madhya Pradesh vs Hyderabad, Gujarat vs TNCA President’s XI, Mumbai vs TNCA XI, Baroda vs Chattisgarh.
Semi-finals (Sep 2-5): Winner Group A vs Winner Group B, Winner Group C vs Winner Ground D
Final (Sep 8-11).
