The Vijay Hazare Trophy kickstarts today as a number of Team India regulars, including Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal will be in action.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019/20 kickstarts today, with 38 teams participating from all over the country. Chandigarh's side is the latest addition to the tournament. This edition of the domestic limited-overs tournament features a number of Team India first-team regulars, which include wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Test regular Hanuma Vihari among others.
Ambati Rayudu, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket following the snub during the world cup, will also make a return to cricket with the tournament.
Here's all you need to know about the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019/20:
When does the tournament begin?
The 2019/20 Vijay Hazare Trophy begins on September 24. The knock-outs will start on October 20, with the final on October 25.
Where are the matches being played?
The Group matches are being played in four cities: Bengaluru (Group A), Vadodara (Group B), Jaipur (Group C) and Dehradun (Group D or the Plate Group).
What is the format?
The Vijay Hazare Trophy is played in a round-robin format. Top-five teams from Group A and B, top-two teams from Group C, and the winner of Group D will qualify for the knock-out stage.
How are the groups divided?
Here's the full list of the groups:
Elite Group A: Mumbai, Saurashtra, Andhra, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Goa, Kerala
Elite Group B: Delhi, Vidarbha, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab
Elite Group C: Gujarat, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Railways, Bihar, Services
Group D/Plate: Assam, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland, Chandigarh
Who are the big names in this edition of the tournament?
Shreyas Iyer, who led Mumbai to victory in the previous season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, will continue to lead the side this time. KL Rahul will be the vice-captain of Karnataka for their first-three matches.
The Delhi squad features Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini. However, Pant will join Team India within the first week of the tournament as he is in the Test squad for the three-match series against South Africa.
Dinesh Karthik will lead the Tamil Nadu side, which also features Vijay Shankar, Washington Sundar and out-of-favour Test opener Murali Vijay.
Hanuma Vihari, who impressed on his outing in the West Indies tour, will lead Andhra Pradesh. Shubman Gill will play for Punjab. However, both the players, like Pant, will join the Indian team for the South Africa series which begins on October 2.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is available to play for Haryana, while Kedar Jadhav will captain Maharashtra.
India's T20I bowler Deepak Chahar will play for Rajasthan.
Ambati Rayudu made a dramatic U-turn and will return to cricket, as he is representing Hyderabad.
