Another rejig in Vijay Hazare Trophy schedule following spate of abandonments
Vadodara, like Bengaluru, has been affected by wet weather, with none of the games in Group B producing a result so far
Saurabh Somani
28-Sep-2019
A groundsman at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium brings the covers on as rain started to fall • BCCI
The BCCI has reworked the schedule for the rain-hit Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 again, while still keeping some room for more matches affected by the weather.
ESPNcricinfo had earlier reported that a schedule change was in the works for Group B in Vadodara and the Plate Group in Dehradun after the Group A games in Bengaluru were rescheduled. That allowance made in the new schedule for further rain-affected games will prove crucial with matches on Saturday being hit by rain once again.
ESPNcricinfo understands that a provision was made in the new schedule to make sure that if there were more than three matches abandoned before October 8, they would be fitted in as far as possible from October 9 to 17, but in such a way that no team plays more than two back-to-back games. If no suitable slot can be found for a match, it will stay abandoned.
All three matches in the new schedule, effective from September 28, for Group B in Vadodara were washed out on Saturday without a ball bowled, meaning that not a single game has produced a result in the city so far.
There was no play on September 24 and 26 in Vadodara and on September 25 all three matches had to be abandoned midway. Those nine games are part of the new schedule, though with the weather continuing to be bleak in Vadodara, getting all of them completed may yet prove to be a challenge.
Reworking the schedule for games in Group B in Vadodara has proved particularly tricky, with some of the grounds available only after specific days, and it needed more than one iteration to arrive at the final order of play. That exercise meant the reworked schedule for Group B took longer to come out, to the extent that even players seemed unaware till late on Friday who they would be playing the next day. ESPNcricinfo spoke to a number of players from Group B in the second half on Friday, but none of them were aware of the tweaks made.
As for the Plate Group, it is understood that games that are abandoned going forward will not be rescheduled as there are no reserve days in this group.
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo