Deodhar Trophy 2017-18 schedule announced

Tamil Nadu were the winners of the Deodhar Trophy in the 2016-17 season

What's the story?

The BCCI has announced the schedule of Deodhar Trophy 2017-18, the annual domestic 50-over competition. This year, the tournament has been scheduled to be conducted from March 4-8 between India A, India B and the winners of the Vijay Hazare Trophy final Karnataka. All the four matches have been allotted to Dharamsala.

In case you didn't know...

The previous edition of the Deodhar Trophy was won by Tamil Nadu, who were also the winners of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2016-17 domestic season. Courtesy of a Dinesh Karthik century – his second consecutive century in tournament finals – they had pipped India B to the title in the final, who had big names like Shikhar Dhawan and Manish Pandey in their line-up.

However, until 2014-15, the Deodhar Trophy was held between zonal teams, with each of the five zones – North, South, East, West and Central – featuring a side in the tournament. Then it was so designed that a Quarter-Final match was held between the two worst teams of the 2013-14 Deodhar Trophy – in that case, South Zone and Central Zone – with the winner progressing to the Semi-Finals. East Zone, led by Manoj Tiwary, were the winners, beating West Zone in the final.

The heart of the matter

The squads of India A and India B sides will be chosen by the BCCI, as the tournament in 2017-18 will consist of one round robin stage where all three teams will play against each other once, with the top two sides advancing to the final.

Deodhar Trophy 2017-18 fixtures

(All matches to be held at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala)

March 4 – India A vs India B

March 5 – India B vs Karnataka

March 6 – India A vs Karnataka

March 8 – TBC vs TBC