Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 preview: A struggling format wages on campaign for relevance

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 preview: A struggling format wages on campaign for relevance

A format struggling to remain in vogue and a window in the domestic season that does little to spike interest in player performance — the Vijay Hazare Trophy, beginning on December 21, nestled between the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the second leg of the Ranji Trophy, continues its yearly fight for relevance.

Last year, the competition was held between November 23 and December 16, allowing teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to scout domestic talents extensively ahead of the mini-auction in Dubai on December 19. Players like Shubham Dubey from Vidarbha, Anshul Kamboj and Sumit Kumar from Haryana, and Kumar Kushagra from Jharkhand were the beneficiaries, being picked for huge sums.

This year though, the teams are already locked in after the mega auction in Jeddah in November, and interest from the IPL teams is expected to be minimal. Yet, the senior domestic 50-over tournament is possibly one last stage for those on the fringes of the national setup to stake a claim for a national team berth ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy set to begin in a few months.

Defending champion Haryana, which remained unbeaten throughout the last edition, has been placed along with Gujarat and Uttarakhand in Group A, set to be played in Jaipur. Despite the absence of all-rounder Rahul Tewatia, the team looks set for another knockout appearance.

Rajasthan, runner up last year, and Maharashtra headline Group B set to take place in Mumbai. Andhra and Railways failed to make it past the first stage in 2023 and will be hoping for a better result this year.

Domestic heavyweights Mumbai and Karnataka have been placed together in Group C, being played in Ahmedabad, which also contains the 2022 champion Saurashtra and the youthful Punjab. Mumbai, led by Shreyas Iyer, will be eyeing another trophy after winning the Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this calendar year.

Tamil Nadu, the most successful team in the history of this tournament, is in Group D along with Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh with Andhra Pradesh playing host, while Bengal and Delhi, part of Group E, will play their games in Hyderabad.

Post the 2023 home World Cup, India has played two ODI series, both away from home in South Africa and Sri Lanka, which saw new faces enter the fold. These young performers will be looking for a consistent run in the Vijay Hazare, in a quest to retain the final few slots available in the ODI squad after the seniors return.

Also hoping to be in the reckoning will be India’s T20 stars: Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh. Whether they can replicate their 20-over performances in a more drawn-out format remains to be seen.