The 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy is all set to start from September and the latest update which is hitting the news headlines is that Hyderabad have appointed Ambati Rayudu as their captain for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The announcement has been made days after he declared his decision to come out of retirement.
Ambati Rayudu appointed Hyderabad’s Captain
Rayudu, who was a strong contender to fill up No. 4 position of India, was pipped by all-rounder Vijay Shankar in the World Cup squad. The right-hander had clutched the headlines when he had ealier announced his retirement after World Cup rejection.
Rayudu had also expressed his frustration with a ‘3-D’ tweet, that might have also played a part behind his World Cup rejection.
On the other hand, the 33-year-old had lately written to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), stating that his decision to retire was an emotional one and now he is available for selection.
Rayudu on Thursday wrote in an email sent to HCA’s CoA, “I would like to bring to your notice that I would like to come out of retirement and play cricket in all formats.”
He added, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Chennai Super Kings, VVS Laxman and Noel David, who have been very supportive during the tough time and are instrumental in making me realise that I have enough cricket left in me.”
Apart from him, Mohammed Siraj is also an additional international player in the squad. He is going to be available for the full List A tournament as there are no matches that are planned for India A for the duration of that period.
The 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy is going to be the 18th season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, a List A cricket tournament held in India. The tournament is scheduled to take place in the month of September and will carry on till October 2019, after the Duleep Trophy as well as before the Ranji Trophy.
The defending champions of this season tournament are Mumbai. Hyderabad is going to kick off their season against Karnataka starting on September 24.
The Ambati Rayudu-led side is next going to face Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Saurashtra, Mumbai as well as Kerala in the league stage. Hyderabad is going to play all their matches in the Indian state of Bangalore.
This year’s tournament is also going to retain the same format as the earlier edition of the competition. The tournament is going to have four groups, with total of nine teams each in Groups A, B and the Plate Group, as well as ten teams in Group C. The top two teams from Group C along with the top team in the Plate Group is going to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament, together with total of five teams from Groups A and B.
