New Zealand sends squad for Buchi Babu tourney again
August 14th, 2009 - 6:12 pm ICT by IANSChennai, Aug 14 (IANS) One of India’s premier cricket competitions, the Buchi Babu cricket tournament, will begin here Sunday, coinciding with a BCCI selection committee meeting.
Over the years, the tournament has attracted some of the top teams of India and even the likes of Sunil Gavaskar had utilised the event to assess or regain their form ahead of the domestic season.
As in the recent past, a New Zealand A squad containing several Test and ODI hopefuls will be participating, along with their coach John Wright, who trained the Indian team not long ago.
In all, 16 teams will be playing on a league-cum-knockout basis. The teams have been divided into four groups of four each for the preliminary league and the matches will be of two-day duration with 90 overs allotted to each side.
The top team from each group will advance to the semi-finals. The tournament concludes Aug 29, according to a press release from Tamil Nadu Cricket Association secretary Kasi Viswanathan.
Among the notable players in the Kiwi squad is fast bowler Shane Bond who is coming out of a stress fracture for which he is undergoing treatment.
Incidentally, Bond, who had a stint in the Indian Cricket League before and is now back in the mainstream, has happy memories of the Buchi Babu tournament as his performance in the competition some eight years ago earned him a berth in the New Zealand team.
Bond has been included in the New Zealand one-day side that will be involved in a tri-series along with India following a two-Test series against Sri Lanka commencing Aug 18.
The Kiwis are scheduled to take on Andhra Cricket Association XI in their opening game to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium Aug 16-17.
The annual tournament offers a prize money of Rs.1 lakh to the winner and Rs.50,000 to runner-up.
The groupings:
Group A: TNCA XI, Assam XI, Madhya Pradesh XI, Himachal Pradesh XI.
Group B: New Zealand A, Andhra Cricket Association XI, Tamil Nadu Districts XI, Baroda XI.
Group C: Karnataka XI, TNCA President’s XI, Vidarbha XI, Mumbai XI.
Group D: Saurashtra XI, Hyderabad XI, Kerala XI, Orissa XI.
- Buchi Babu Cricket: TNCA, Hyderabad post wins - Aug 21, 2011
- Buchi matches called off due to rain - Aug 17, 2009
- Gandhi slams 162 as Orissa toil in Buchi Babu - Aug 14, 2011
- Ali slams 117 as Madhya Pradesh prevail - Aug 15, 2011
- Buchi Babu: Doshi, Harpreet among wickets - Aug 18, 2011
- Buchi Babu cricket: Karnataka, Baroda make merry - Aug 20, 2011
- Buchi Babu cricket: Jadeja claims 8 as batsmen make merry - Aug 23, 2011
- New Zealand A knocked out of Buchi Babu cricket - Aug 20, 2009
- Centuries galore in Buchi Babu cricket tournament - Aug 19, 2009
- Badri, Varma slam centuries in Buchi Babu - Aug 16, 2009
- Karthick slams century in Buchi Babu cricket - Aug 23, 2010
- Bond in New Zealand A squad for Chennai tourney - Jul 31, 2009
- Karnataka lead way into semis in Buchi Babu cricket - Aug 23, 2009
- Baroda restrict Kiwis in Buchi Babu cricket - Aug 22, 2009
- Sealed stands released for IPL qualifier and final - May 24, 2012
Tags: association secretary, babu, coach john, cricket league, cricket tournament, gavaskar, happy memories, himachal pradesh, indian cricket, kiwis, lakh, ma chidambaram stadium, madhya pradesh, rs 50, selection committee, stress fracture, tamil nadu cricket association, tri series, undergoing treatment, viswanathan