Chennai, Aug 10 (PTI) The Buchi Babu Invitation Tournament will be played in a four-day format for the first time, from August 15 to September 11, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) announced on Thursday. Also, for the first time, the 28-day competition — longest in its history — will be held out of Chennai and will be played at Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Salem and Natham.
The tournament was last organised during the 2016-17 domestic season and returns after a gap of six years.
A total of 12 teams will participate including the TNCA President’s XI and TNCA XI. The other ten state teams are Indian Railways, Haryana, Baroda, Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Bengal.
There will be four groups of three teams each, and the top sides from each group make it to the semifinals.
While the winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, the runner-up will get Rs 2 lakhs.
The winners of the Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament will receive Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
“Due to the non-availability of MAC Stadium which is under preparation for the forthcoming World Cup and ongoing First Division League matches we have moved the tournament to the districts,” TNCA said.
Former India player Krishnamachari Srikkanth said, “Buchi Babu Tournament has been a stepping stone for several Indian cricketers.” Buchi Babu Tournament 2023 groups: Group A: TNCA Pres XI, Indian Railways and Tripura Group B: Haryana, Baroda and MP Group C: Mumbai, Delhi and J&K Group D: TNCA XI, Kerala and Bengal Buchi Babu Tournament 2023 schedule: Aug 15-18: TNCA Pres XI vs Indian Railways (Coimbatore), Haryana vs Baroda (Dindigul), Mumbai vs Delhi (Salem) and TNCA XI vs Kerala (Tirunelveli) Aug 21-24: Indians Railways vs Tripura (Coimbatore), Baroda vs MP (Dindigul), Delhi vs J&K (Salem) and Kerala vs Bengal (Tirunelveli) Aug 27-30: TNCA Pres XI vs Tripura (Coimbatore), Haryana vs MP (Dindigul), Mumbai vs J&K (Salem) and TNCA XI vs Bengal (Tirunelveli) Sep 2-5: Semi-final – A vs C (Salem) and Semi-final – B vs D (Dindigul) Sep 8-11: Final (Coimbatore). PTI AYG DDV
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