BCCI to organise Vijay Hazare Trophy, women's ODI tourney after SMAT 2021

Mumbai: After the successful completion of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to conduct the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy and the senior women's One-day tournament.

In a letter written to the state associations, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah also confirmed that the Vinoo Mankad Under-19 Trophy will take place at a later date.According to the Cricbuzz report, the detailed schedule of the tournaments are still being worked out.

"It was extremely important for us to ensure that women's cricket takes place and I am extremely happy to inform you that we are going to conduct the senior women's one-day tournament simultaneously with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and follow it up with the Vinoo Mankad Under-19 Trophy," Shah wrote in his letter.

"This has been decided after having received your feedback on the domestic season 2020-21,' it added.

The finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy are to be held in Ahmedabad on Sunday where Tamil Nadu will take on Baroda.

"I write this with some sense of satisfaction and a whole lot of gratitude towards the State Associations and the staff of the BCCI for the successful conduct of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament so far, after having delivered a flawless IPL earlier,' stated the letter.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your support. It has been heartening to see the outstanding quality of cricket on display during the course of the tournament and the coming of age of quite a few youngsters. We are keenly looking forward to an exciting final game," it added.

The board had earlier reached out to state associations to reach a conscientious to pick between Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy as their preferred option. A majority of them were in favour of the 50-over format over the four-day Ranji Trophy.

While there have been reports that BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was keen on hosting the Ranji Trophy, the board was struggling to find a window for the first-class tournament.With the Indian Premier League set to begin in April, only a two-month window is available for the BCCI to conduct the domestic tournaments.

'The pandemic has tested each and every one of us and there is no life that has remain untouched by it, and while it has been difficult, your support has meant that we have been able to resume both domestic and international cricket in the men's category. As you are aware, we have lost a lot of time and consequently, it has been difficult to plan the cricket calendar...' said the letter.(UNI)