Indian news round-up

The Vidarbha Cricket Association held its annual general meeting at Nagpur on August 4 and it was time for the members to look upon an eventful season. The VCA hosted the Test match between India and Zimbabwe from November 25 to 29 and a three day match between India A and Australia from February 17 to 19. Because of the earthquake in Gujarat, the BCCI changed the venue for the three day game from Baroda to Nagpur. The Association's ability to organize the match within a short time made the BCCI to consider Nagpur as a venue ahead of other centres. The cricket lovers of Nagpur had a chance to see world champions Australia and Zimbabwe play.

The proposed Duleep Trophy match between Central Zone and West Zone at Meerut was shifted to Nagpur due to the law and order situation in that city. The VCA successfully conducted the tournament within a short notice.

Vidarbha players received due national recognition. Alind Naidu was selected for the training camp held by the National Cricket Acadamy at Bangalore. During the year he represented India in the under-19 `Test' and in one day matches played against England while Amit Deshpande represented India in the one day under-19 game against England. Chandrashekar Atram was selected for the MRF Pace Academy at Chennai. Among administrators from the state, former Vidarbha and Central Zone cricketer Ashok Bhagwat was appointed as Junior National selector while Shashank Manohar was appointed as member of the code of conduct committee set up by the BCCI.

Ten teams will take part in the KSCA Coca-Cola inter-zonal under-19 tournament to be played at Mysore and Bangalore from August 11 to 31. The group A matches will be held in Mysore. Teams in this pool are Mysore Zone, Bangalore Zone, Mangalore Zone, Tumkur Zone and Combined City. Group B matches will be played at Bangalore. Teams in this pool are Bangalore City, President's XI, Shimoga Zone, Racihur Zone and Dharwad Zone.

The group matches will be played on a league basis, each game being played over two days. The top two teams in each zone will qualify for the semifinals, to be played on a knock out basis over three days. The league matches will be played from August 11 to 23, the semifinals will be held on August 25, 26 and 27 and the three day final on August 29, 30 and 31.