BCCI Tweaks Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 Format Mid-Season

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to switch over to the previous format of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018, and now, instead of on zones, individual teams will play the next round.

Last year, BCCI tweaked the format and decided to hold a second round of the tournament between zones instead of teams. Players who did well in the Zonal League were selected side in respective zones before the five zones met each other. East Zone won the previous year’s edition.

“Yes, the BCCI has decided that once again the top two teams from
each of the five zones will qualify for the knock- out stage unlike the
last time. In all, 10 teams will be playing in the knock-outs and will be
divided into two groups of five teams each. The knock-out stage will
be held in Kolkata from January 21-27,” a senior BCCI official told PTI. 

Keeping IPL auction in mind, this format has its pros and cons. First talking of pros, the members of best performing teams will get a chance to impress the IPL franchises. While talking about cons, the players of teams who have already been ruled out of the tournament will not play in the next round, hence, taking away the chance from them.

The BCCI had already decided to prepone the staging of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy ahead of IPL to provide players a chance to impress IPL franchises. This saw Irani Cup being delayed to March while Vijay Hazare Trophy was too delayed to prepone the T20 tournament.

The auction for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League is all set to be held on January 27 and 28 in Bangalore. The final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 will be played on January 27 – the first day of IPL auction.

Follow Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018 here –