Vijay Hazare Trophy


The Vijay Hazare Trophy is a cricket tournament played in India. It is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is contested by state and city teams in a league and playoff format. Along with the inter-zonal Deodhar Trophy, it forms the top level of List A cricket in the country, and is an important feeder tournament for selection in the Indian National Cricket Team. Matches consist of 50 overs per side, similar to One Day International matches. It was initially a zonal tournament, and became a national tournament in 2002. Vidarbha are the defending champions, after having won the 2025-26 edition.

History

The Vijay Hazare trophy began in the 1993-94 season as the Ranji One Day Trophy, a List A counterpart to the First-Class Ranji Trophy. In its early years, it was played at the zonal level. North, South, East, West, and Central Zones each produced their own winner, and success in this tournament was used to determine selection for zonal teams in the Deodhar Trophy. The most successful teams in this phase were Bombay/Mumbai and Bengal.
It became a national competition in 2002–03, with a knockout stage crowning a national champion every year. The most successful teams since then have been Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. For the 2007-08 edition, it was renamed in honour of Vijay Hazare. Domestic cricket in India was suspended for several months because of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, leading to the cancellation of the 2020–21 Ranji Trophy. However, the BCCI announced that the 2020/21 edition of the Vijay Hazare tournament would take place.

Format

The format of the national-level tournament has changed several times. During the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons, a final round-robin stage was held for the top teams in each zone. Since the 2004–05 tournament, a playoff format including semi-finals and a final has been held, with varying qualification mechanisms. Teams are currently grouped on the basis of average points gained in the preceding three seasons.
Between the 2015–16 and 2017–18 seasons, the tournament consisted of 28 teams divided into four groups. For the 2018/19 edition, the teams were divided into three elite groups and one plate group. Two of the elite groups had nine teams while the third had ten. The plate group consisted of nine new teams.
The current format consists of 38 teams divided into 4 elite groups and 1 plate group. The elite groups have 8 teams while the plate group has 6. After playing each team in the group once, the five winners and the best performing runner-up qualify for the quarter final stage directly, while the four other runners-up play in the preliminary quarter finals. The two winners of pre-quarter finals join the remaining six teams in the quarter final stage.

Results

TeamWinnerLast Final
Tamil Nadu522021–22
Karnataka502024–25
Mumbai412020–21
Saurashtra222025–26
Bengal152016–17
Uttar Pradesh122020–21
Delhi122018–19
Railways112013–14
Gujarat112015–16
Vidarbha112025–26
Jharkhand102010–11
Himachal Pradesh102021–22
Haryana102023–24
Punjab [cricket team (India)|Punjab]022014–15
Rajasthan022023–24
Assam012012–13
Maharashtra012022–23

Records

This is a list of records in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is current as of December 31st 2025.
CategoryTeamRecord
Most National ChampionshipsKarnataka5
Most National ChampionshipsTamil Nadu5
Most Zonal ChampionshipsMumbai8
Highest Innings TotalBihar574/6
Lowest Innings TotalRajasthan35
Highest Match AggregateJharkhand vs Karnataka825
Lowest Match AggregateRajasthan vs Railways74
Largest Victory MarginTamil Nadu vs Arunachal435
Most Extras in an InningsJharkhand47
Highest Winning PercentageKarnataka77.73

CategoryPlayerRecord
Most WicketsSiddarth Kaul155
Best Bowling FiguresShahbaz Nadeem8/10
Best Bowling Average Varun Chakravarthy14.13
Best Economy Rate Iresh Saxena3.61
Best Strike Rate Varun Chakravarthy19.81
Most 5 Wicket HaulsSiddarth Kaul7
Most Wickets in a SeasonVinay Kumar28

CategoryPlayerRecord
Most CatchesManish Pandey68
Most Catches in a MatchVignesh Puthur6
Most Catches in a SeasonManish Pandey14

Salary

The BCCI increased the match fees in 2024 to allow it to compete with lucrative tournaments like the IPL. Match fees depend on a player's level, which is calculated using the total number of matches they have played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy throughout their career. Players who are on the bench but do not play in the match receive half fees.
CategoryNumber of MatchesMatch Fees Match Fees
Senior>40₹60,000₹30,000
Mid Level21 - 40₹50,000₹25,000
Junior0 - 20₹40,000₹20,000