The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has found space for four-day cricket matches with the reintroduction of the All-India Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament after a six-year hiatus. This comes at a time when most state units are utilising the pre-season to stage domestic T20 competitions. Such is the excitement for this tournament that even former India skipper MS Dhoni requested the TNCA to include Jharkhand in it.
Tamil Nadu’s dismal performance in the Ranji Trophy was also one of the reason that this tournament has come to fore.
Both the number of teams and the window in the competition have increased. The future edition, which will take place from August 15 to September 11 and feature 12 teams instead of the usual 8 teams, will be played. The playing conditions for the competition will be comparable to those of the Ranji Trophy.
The above changes even prompted CSK skipper MS Dhoni to approach TNCA.
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TNCA declines MS Dhoni request
With the introduction of the Tamil Nadu Premier League following the 2016–17 campaign, the competition was without a window for six years.
State units showed a lot of interest, according to TNCA secretary RI Palani, who even had to decline MS Dhoni request to include Jharkhand in the draw.
“MS Dhoni wanted Jharkhand included, but it was too tight. We couldn’t fit them because we already have 12 teams. Even Services and Chhattisgarh wanted to participate. We have decided to hold the tournament in Coimbatore, Salem, Dindigul, and Tirunelveli on green-tops as it will give players a good preparation since clubs use the event to prepare for the pre-season,” Palani added.
The decision to increase the number of teams followed requests from other state units. With monsoons prevailing in the north, nine of the 12 teams are from the region, with Kerala being the lone visiting side from the south, apart from the two teams that TNCA is fielding.
With TNPL already out of the way, the TNCA has allotted a 28-day window – the longest ever for the tournament and is spending Rs 2.5 crore for the event. Winning team will get Rs three lakh and the runners up Rs two lakh. The 12 teams have been divided into four groups and the toppers will make the semifinals.
| Date | Day | Team 1 | Team 2 | City | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | Friday | Pakistan | Netherlands | Hyderabad | Pak won by 81 runs |
| Oct 10 | Tuesday | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | Pak won by 6 wickets |
| Oct 14 | Saturday | India | Pakistan | Ahmedabad | India won by 7 wickets |
| Oct 20 | Friday | Australia | Pakistan | Bengaluru | Aus won by 62 runs |
| Oct 23 | Monday | Pakistan | Afghanistan | Chennai | Pak lost by 8 wickets |
| Oct 27 | Friday | Pakistan | South Africa | Chennai | Pak lost by 1-wicket |
| Oct 31 | Tuesday | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Kolkata | Pak won by 7-wickets |
| Nov 4 | Saturday | New Zealand | Pakistan | Bengaluru | Pakistan won by 21 runs via DLS |
| Nov 11 | Saturday | England | Pakistan | Kolkata | 2:00 PM |
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