Cricket Trophies in India | Tournament Types & Trophy List

Cricket trophies in India are numerous. But over the years, the stature of Indian cricket has undergone a massive change.

Because of this, the structure of Indian cricket has changed, as has the trophy list.

We will take a look at five of the cricket trophies in India where players still want to participate.

List of Cricket Trophies in India

India’s tryst with cricket began after the arrival of the East India Company.

When the foreigners came to this land, they brought diseases, their new lifestyle, and a unique sport—cricket. Because of the nature of the sport, it always attracted lots of attention from the native people.

Here, it must be mentioned that cricket was a gentleman’s game and therefore elitist. If you are a native, you couldn’t play the sport. But the feudal mindset changed as more and more natives were allowed to play the sport in the 17th century.

In 1864, the first domestic match was played between Kolkata and Madras, and as the 20th century came on, the BCCI (the Board of Control for Cricket in India) started the Ranji Trophy, which was named after King Ranjit Singh.

The first Ranji Trophy match was played in 1934. Today, it is one of the premier cricket trophies in India. With the passage of time, cricket trophies in India rose. Here’s the full list: 

• Ranji Trophy
• Deodhar Trophy
• Duleep Trophy
• Irani Cup
• Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
• Vijay Hazare Trophy
• Indian Premier League

 We will take a look at each of these cricket trophies in India on an individual basis.

Cricket Trophies in India Explained

We will begin our analysis with Ranji Trophy before moving on to some of the contemporary tournaments available in India.

Ranji Trophy:

One of the premier cricket trophies in India, the Ranji Trophy, was started by the BCCI in 1934. It was on November 4, 1934, that the first match was played between Madras and Mysore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

• Mumbai is the most successful team in the trophy, with 41 titles to their name.
• The Ranji Trophy, which is a first-class tournament, is very much in business and will be played this year as well.
• It has been played every year except in 2020, when it was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Deodhar Trophy:

Named after DB Deodhar, this tournament has been played every year since 1974. However, due to COVID 19, it was not played for three years—2020, 2021, and 2022.

However, it resumed in 2023, with South Zone becoming champion.

This is a domestic ODI tournament where each match is worth 50 overs. It is played between six zonal teams:

• North Zone 
• East Zone
• West Zone
• South Zone
• Central Zone
• North-East Zone

Duleep Trophy:

Unlike Deodhar, this is a first-class tournament, which means it is a domestic test match that goes on for up to four days.

• It is also an inter-zonal tournament that was started in 1961.
• Currently, South Zone is the champion.
• The player gets picked in the zone depending upon their performance in the Ranji Trophy.

Irani Cup:

Don’t forget the Irani Cup when it comes to cricket trophies in India!

• In the Irani Cup, the Ranji Trophy champions take on the rest of India.
• The Rest of India is a team where players are selected from the different state teams.
• Top Ranji Trophy performers are given preference and picked in Irani Cup squads.
• Since 1959, it has been played every year until COVID-19 stepped in and derailed domestic cricket in India.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:

Unlike some of the other tournaments, this is a domestic T20 cricket tournament that started recently.

• It only came into existence after T20 cricket got precedence in the hierarchy of the BCCI, which wasn’t too obsessed with the shorter format until 2007, when India won the maiden T20 World Cup.
• The first edition was played in 2006.

Vijay Hazare Trophy:

One of the premier cricket trophies in India, Vijay Hazare, was played for the first time in 2002.

• If a player wants to get into the Indian Cricket Team and wants to play white-ball cricket, he will have to perform well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
• Thanks to the craze across white-ball cricket, fans try to follow the Vijay Hazare Trophy as much as possible.

Indian Premier League:

The Indian Premier League, or IPL, is among the most notable cricket trophies in India.

Founded in 2008, the IPL turned out to be the most revolutionary tournament, which gave way to many other T20 franchise tournaments like:

• BBL (Big Bash League)
• PSL (Pakistan Super League)
• SA 20 (South Africa)
• LPL (Lanka Premier League)
• CPL (Caribbean Premier League)

Earlier, it was the Indian players who would go and play cricket in England, but now it was them who were travelling to India, thanks to the money factor.

The IPL brought in the best cricketers and provided them with millions of dollars. In turn, they gave treats to the fans, who in turn wanted more of the IPL.

As of now, 90 percent of BCCI’s revenue comes from this tournament.

Final Thoughts

Thanks to British rule, India was among the old boys of world cricket.

When the BCCI was formed, India hadn’t gotten independence yet, and despite this, they got Test status in 1932.

This validation played a huge role in the BCCI becoming a sole proprietor for cricket in India, and this also led to a proper cricket structure being established.

As a result, you had all these various cricket trophies in India, which were surpassed by the IPL, which is now the premier tournament.

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