Vijay Hazare Trophy preview: India stars eager to shed rust ahead of ODIs against England

New Delhi, February 19: Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic one-day competition in India, will kick off on Saturday (February 20) with players looking to get back on the field after shining in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy will also act as the perfect platform for the players who are looking to showcase their skills in the white-ball format ahead of the ODI series against England, keeping in mind the T20 World Cup is scheduled later this year.

Shreyas Iyer will lead Mumbai while Bhuvneshwar Kumar will captain Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming tournament. Shreyas didn't have a good run in the ODI series against Australia while Bhuvneshwar has been out of the side due to injury. Both the cricketers will look to impress the selectors ahead of the white-ball series against England.

Prithvi Shaw has been named as the vice-captain of Mumbai while the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tushar Despande have also been named in the squad. Pradeep Sangwan will lead Delhi but Shikhar Dhawan will look to make the most of the tournament having not played a one-day game since December first week.

The sides have been divided into six Elite A, B, C, D, and E and the Plate Group. The Plate Group's matches will be played across the different locations in Tamil Nadu while the Elite Groups' games will be held in Surat, Indore, Bangalore, Jaipur, and Kolkata respectively.

Last year's runners-up Tamil Nadu, who won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January are in Group B while defending champions Karnataka are in Group C. The quarter-final will be played on March 8 and 9 respectively, while the semifinal will take place on March 11. The final match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy is scheduled for March 14.