All you need to know about Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021

India’s premier 50-over domestic competition has kicked off on 8th December. The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 will feature 38 teams who will compete in the 20th edition of the tournament. After 168 matches, the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be played on 27th December. The tournament will provide an opportunity for the youngsters to make their mark before the IPL auction.

Groups

The 38 teams are divided into six groups. Five groups, Elite A, B, C, D, E, consist of six teams each. The Plate group will eight teams. Each team shall play every other team in the group on a round-robin basis. At the end of the group stage, top teams from the Elite groups shall qualify directly for the quarter-finals. The second-placed teams in these groups shall play preliminary quarter-finals along with the top team from the Plate group. The knockouts then follow the basic quarter-final, semi-final and final progression.

Venues

Each group shall play its matches in a different city. Here is the group-wise distribution.

Elite A (Venue – Mumbai, Thane)

Teams: Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Vidarbha.

Elite B (Venue – Trivandrum)

Teams: Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Baroda, Bengal, Puducherry.

Elite C (Venue – Chandigarh)

Teams: Delhi, Jharkhand, Haryana, Hyderabad, Saurashtra, Uttar Pradesh.

Elite D (Venue – Rajkot)

Teams: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Kerala.

Elite E (Venue – Ranchi)

Assam, Goa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Services.

Plate Group (Venue – Jaipur)

Teams: Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Bihar.

History

Mumbai enter the tournament as the defending champions. Earlier this year, they had defeated Uttar Pradesh in the final to claim their fourth title. Overall, Tamil Nadu is the most successful team with five titles to their name.