Vijay Hazare Trophy set to kick start on February 20

The BCCI have zeroed in on February 20 as the kick-off date for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the players have to report at their respective venues on February 13.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020 went ahead without any glitch and there were hopes that the BCCI would go ahead with the Ranji Trophy. But the limited time available for the tournament pushed the BCCI to shelve the plan for good and instead decided to pursue the 50-overs tournament.

The BCCI, on Saturday, has formally written to the state associations informing the Vijay Hazare Trophy will begin on February 20 and teams have to report at their respective venues on February 13 to start their six-day quarantine.

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“The teams are required to assemble in their respective host cities on February 13 and will be needed to undergo Covid-19 testing procedure and Quarantine in accordance with the State regulatory authorities and the BCCI’s SOPs,” the BCCI said in a mail to the state units.

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Surat, Indore, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata will be the five venues for the Elite teams while a still to be decided city in Tamil Nadu will host the Plate Teams.

Defending champions Karnataka have been clubbed with UP, Kerala, Odisha, Railways, and Bihar while SMAT champion for the year, Tamil Nadu, will play Punjab, Jharkhand, MP, Vidarbha, and Andhra Pradesh.

Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, HP, Rajasthan, and Pondicherry will be in one group while Bengal, Services, J&K, Saurashtra, Haryana, and Chandigarh will form the Elite Group E that will play in Kolkata.

While the league stage will run from February 20 to March 1 and the knockouts will start on March 8 – the venue for which is yet to be decided.