Deodhar Trophy
Deodhar Trophy: participating teams
Central Zone cricket team
4
East Zone cricket team
4
North zone cricket team
13
South Zone cricket team
7
West zone cricket team
12
Deodhar Trophy: the history of the Indian tournament
The Deodhar Trophy is a domestic professional cricket championship that has been held in India since 1973. Games are played in a format with a limited number of overs (two innings of 50 overs are played). To date, three teams are playing at the tournament. The championship consists of 2 stages: the group stage and the playoff stage. Manages the Deodhar Trophy – Board of Control for Cricket in India.
In this article, we briefly describe all the main points related to a professional tournament.
Deodhar Trophy – Championship formation
In 1928, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appeared in India – this is the main sports body in the country that is responsible for cricket activities. Today, the BCCI organizes almost all domestic professional championships. They have about 12 sports tournaments on their account.
Until the early 1970s, first-class cricket was mainly played in the country. So, in 1973, a new tournament was formed in India – the Deodhar Trophy. For most of its history, five zonal teams participated in the championship (South zone, West zone, Central zone, North zone and East zone). The clubs competed against each other in a format with a limited number of overs. This means that the matches were held in one day. They consisted of 2 innings, in each of which 50 overs were played.
The tournament is named after the famous Indian cricketer Dinkar Balwant Deodhar (1892-1993). Deodhar is one of the few who managed to play cricket both before the First World War and after the Second World War. This is the 1st Indian first-class cricketer who was able to live to 100 years.
One zonal team is a team of players that consists of different professional teams located in neighboring states and regions of the country. According to official data, each zone represents the following sports teams:
| North Zone | South Zone | Central Zone | East Zone | West Zone |
| Delhi CT; Haryana CT; Himachal Pradesh CT; Jammu and Kashmir CT; Punjab CT; Services CT. |
Andhra CT Goa CT; Hyderabad CT; Karnataka CT; Kerala CT; Tamil Nadu CT. |
Chhattisgarh CT; Madhya Pradesh CT; Railways CT; Rajasthan CT; Uttar Pradesh CT; Vidarbha CT. |
Assam CT; Bengal CT; Jharkhand CT; Odisha CT; Tripura CT. |
Baroda CT; Gujarat CT; Maharashtra CT; Mumbai CT; Saurashtra CT. |
The debut season was held in the period 1973-1974. The winner of the 1st season was the South Zone team.
Deodhar Trophy – Championship winners and changes in the rules
Until 2015, the Deodhar Trophy was held according to the same format of the game:
- At first, five national teams played among themselves in a round-robin system. After that, the playoff round began;
- The clubs that took the 4th and 5th places competed in the 1/4 finals;
- In the semifinals, the 2nd and 3rd places played among themselves, and the 1st place competed with the winner of the 1/4 final pair;
- The two best teams competed for the trophy in the final.
For 42 years of history, the North zone is the most titled team. It has 13 championship trophies on its account. Also, during this time, only in 2001 the final ended in a draw. The trophy was divided between the South Zone and the Central Zone.
In 2015, the number of clubs changed. The winner of the last season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic championship was invited to the tournament, plus two teams selected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. These teams were called India A and India B. The format of the game remained the same. Immediately, the teams played in a round-robin system, after which the two best clubs fought in the final of the Deodhar Trophy.
The championship is still being held in this form today. But instead of the winner of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 3rd team from the BCCI is appointed under the name India C. In the last five years, only the India B team has two wins in the tournament’s final.
Unfortunately, the 2020-2021 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The record for the number of runs belongs to the player of the national team of India B – Baba Aparajith. In the 2019-2020 season, he earned 167 runs in three matches. Also, this season, a record was set for the number of wickets knocked out. It belongs to the player of the national team of India C – Jalaj Saxena. For three matches, he was able to knock out ten wickets.
