Cricket in India is very popular, and there is no shortage of national tournaments till the end of the year. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not only organizes these tournaments but also trains the players who will eventually represent India on the global stage.
There is a tournament that has been the gateway for the different states’ finest to play for the national side. Which tournament?
The Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is the 50-over senior domestic cricket tournament of the country.
Here, we are going to discuss the history and winners of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Vijay Hazare Trophy: History
The Vijay Hazare Trophy, as already indicated, is a List A tournament played with a 50-over format. This is an annual competition in which state and regional teams battle it out for the trophy.
The setup of the BCCI, however, originally did not name the tournament as it is called today. The first 50-over event that was introduced in the 1993/94 season was dubbed the Ranji One Day Trophy by the board. The name was derived from the first-class Ranji Trophy.
The first season of the Ranji One Day Trophy was 1993/94, and it saw teams playing in their respective zones. No national champion was declared, with the teams that won their zones being recognized as champions.
This format remained in place until the 2001/02 season when the board introduced a round-robin among the zonal winners to determine the victors for the next two seasons. However, from the 2004/05 edition onwards, the tournament was expanded to include a knockout stage, with the last match determining the champion.
Prior to the commencement of the Ranji One Day Trophy, a zonal 50-over tournament for under-22s christened the Vijay Hazare Trophy took place. The under-22 tournament was initiated in the 1983/84 season and carried on with this name till the 2006/07 season when the BCCI chose to rename the senior trophy.
The board renamed the Ranji One Day Trophy in the memory of Vijay Hazare starting from the 2007/08 season.
Who Was Vijay Hazare?
Vijay Hazare was a legendary Indian cricketer born in Sangli, Maharashtra. He was a player in domestic cricket for Maharashtra, Baroda, and Central India (now defunct).
Hazare was a batter that everybody respected, who over a decade played in the Indian domestic circuit. In June 1946, he received his first Test cap in a match against England at the world-famous Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The right-handed batsman would gradually turn into a crucial force in the group and would often score great innings. Hazare was a part of the Indian team for 30 Tests in which he scored 2192 runs at an impressive average of 47.65 with 7 centuries and 9 fifties among them.
In first-class cricket, his scoring was equally reliable as he made a total of 18740 runs in 238 matches at an amazing average of 58.38 with 60 hundreds and 73 half-centuries as the final tally.
Hazare in addition to his rare feats had the privilege of captaining the Indian Test team. He led the Indian men for a total of 14 matches and could only win one, however, it was an extraordinary win.
His time as captain marked a great era in Indian cricket, when he took India to their first win in Tests against all the odds back in 1952 at Chennai. The Indians beat the Englishmen, thus putting an end to their 20-year-long winless drought in the format.
Vijay Hazare Trophy: Teams and Structure
The competition is of the one-day format and is played in a round-robin manner, where 38 teams are participating. The teams are divided into five groups who play among themselves.
Vijay Hazare Trophy: Most Winning Team Ever
Tamil Nadu tops the list of most successful teams in the history of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The southern state has been the champion five times, while Karnataka and Mumbai have been the runners-up four times each.
Following are the winners of the Vijay Hazare Trophy by seasons:
| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2002/03 | Tamil Nadu | Punjab |
| 2003/04 | Mumbai | Bengal |
| 2004/05 | Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (shared) | – |
| 2005/06 | Railways | Uttar Pradesh |
| 2006/07 | Mumbai | Rajasthan |
| 2007/08 | Saurashtra | Bengal |
| 2008/09 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal |
| 2009/10 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal |
| 2010/11 | Jharkhand | Gujarat |
| 2011/12 | Bengal | Mumbai |
| 2012/13 | Delhi | Assam |
| 2013/14 | Karnataka | Railways |
| 2014/15 | Karnataka | Punjab |
| 2015/16 | Gujarat | Delhi |
| 2016/17 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal |
| 2017/18 | Karnataka | Saurashtra |
| 2018/19 | Mumbai | Delhi |
| 2019/20 | Karnataka | Tamil Nadu |
| 2020/21 | Mumbai | Uttar Pradesh |
| 2021/22 | Himachal Pradesh | Tamil Nadu |
| 2022/23 | Saurashtra | Maharashtra |
| 2023/24 | Haryana | Rajasthan |
