The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Buchi Babu from today

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Thursday, Aug 16, 2007
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Buchi Babu from today

Special Correspondent

Chennai: The Buchi Babu all-India invitation cricket tournament will be held here from August 16 to September 3. The tournament, conducted by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), will feature prominent State sides like Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Hyderabad, Baroda and Rajasthan.

An Australian Academy team from the Centre of Excellence will also be taking part.

Speaking at a press conference at the V.A. Parthasarathy Hall in the TNCA Club on Tuesday night, the TNCA secretary, K.S. Viswanathan, said, since the State sides had shown an overwhelming interest in this pre-Ranji Trophy season tournament, a decision was taken not to invite the corporate sides.

“In fact, we had to say no to a number of State sides since their entries came in late. It has been raining in the other parts of the country and this a good time to play cricket here. All the sides are guaranteed three matches in the league phase, providing ample opportunities for the cricketers,” Mr. Vishwanathan said.

Sixteen teams have been divided into four Zones of four sides each.

The teams topping the group will enter the semifinals, to be held on August 28, 29, and 30. The final will be staged at the M.A. Chidambaram (MAC) Stadium on September 1, 2 and 3. The league matches too will be played over three days. Apart from MAC, matches will be on at ICL-Guru Nanak, SRMC, CPT-IP, IIT-Chemplast, Mayajaal, Vivekananda and the Southern Railway grounds.

The host will field two sides — TNCA XI and Combined Districts. K. Shri Vasudeva Das will skipper the first side, with off-spining all-rounder R. Ashwin, his deputy. Much focus will be on openers M. Vijay and Abhinav Mukund.

Vasanth Saravanan will turn out for the Districts, indicating his availability for the State side this season.

Serious contender

Mumbai could post a serious challenge to the TNCA team, the holder. The side includes Vinayak Mane, Vinit Indulkar, Abhishek Nair, Iqbal Abdullah and Avishkar Salvi.

The Australian Academy side, as its coach Brian McFadyen pointed out, was taking part chiefly to adapt to the heat and the humidity in these parts and gain experience on the sub-continental pitches.

In Philip Hughes, the side has an exciting left-handed top-order batsman and wicket-keeper. Pace bowler Brendon Drew was among the 30 probables for the Twenty20 World Cup.

The tournament will enter its 100th year in 2009, according to the TNCA Joint Secretary, G. Natarajan.

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