Vijay Hazare Trophy 2020-21 set to be played from February 18

After successfully conducting the 2021 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking forward to host the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 from February 18. The Indian board is keen on playing the Vijay Hazare matches in the same venues where SMAT was conducted as it will be easy to recreate the bio-bubble as the local authorities are aware about the protocols.

Mumbai, Baroda, Kolkata, Indore, Bangalore are expected to host the league matches but instead of Chennai, another venue in Kerala will be included. Chennai will be hosting the first two Test matches of the four-match series between India and England, starting from February 5 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Subsequently, the knockout games will also be played in another venue. Ahmedabad had hosted all the knockout games of SMAT 2021 but this time, it will be play hosts to England and India for the last two Test matches and five T20 Internationals from February 18 to March 18.

“Same venues are being preferred because the local associations know the protocols,” said an official of Baroda Cricket Association as quoted by Cricbuzz, which has offered to host women’s matches too.

BCCI to host Women’s tournament from February 18

Just like the Vijay Hazare Trophy, BCCI is planning to host the women’s domestic tournament from February 18. The women’s one-day tournaments could be played in Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Pune. In addition, they are also thinking to approach the Tier-II cities which have decent hotels to create the bio-bubbles.

The venue selection has been done based on the requirements of Apollo Group of Hospitals that has been tasked with creating the bio-bubbles for the domestic and international events in India. The 37 teams participating in the Women’s tournament will be divided into six clusters with teams in each cluster playing in one city.

Meanwhile, it would be the first time in 87 years that the Indian board would not host the Ranji Trophy tournament. BCCI doesn’t have sufficient time to conduct red-ball games as they are planning to wrap up all the domestic tournaments before the commencement of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled in April and May in India.