The action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy’s 2019 edition is in full flow. While in the first semi-final, Gujarat locks horns with Tamil Nadu, and in the second semi-final, Chhattisgarh squares off against Karnataka.
The rain played a spoiler in the quarter-finals between Chhattisgarh Vs Mumbai and Punjab vs Tamil Nadu. According to the tournament rules, the team that wins more matches in the league-stage will automatically qualify for the next round in the event of a wash-out encounter in the quarter-finals or other knockout games.
Consequently, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, who had more victories in the league-stage, qualified for the semi-finals while Punjab and Mumbai were in a great position in the quarter-finals.
But here’s the catch: Both Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh played in Group C, which had nine games in the preliminary stage while Mumbai and Punjab had just eight league-stage games in their group. So, even if the teams in Group B had won all their games, they still would have been knocked out in the case of a washout.
Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout rules irk the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh
Expectedly from all quarters, the rule has come under immense scrutiny and criticism. Punjab captain Mandeep Singh took to Twitter to express his disappointment with the rules and the absence of reserve day for knockouts.
Mandeep tweeted, “Played outstanding cricket in the league stage in a very tough A/B group and qualified for the knockouts brilliantly. Now we’re out of the tournament without even playing the quarter-finals due to rain.”
Played outstanding cricket in the league stage in a very tough A/B group and qualified for the knock outs brilliantly. Now we’re out of the tournament without even playing the quarter finals due to rain. #reallydisappointed #VijayHazareTrophy #punjabteam @BCCI
— Mandeep Singh (@mandeeps12) October 21, 2019
Yuvraj Singh, former India and all-rounder of Punjab, also took to Twitter, making his disappointment known to the BCCI.
Yuvraj tweeted, “Again an unfortunate result for Punjab against TN in the Vijay Hazare tournament, again Punjab cruising and game abandoned due to bad weather, and on points, we don’t go to semis! Why don’t we have a reserve day? Or is it a domestic tournament it doesn’t really matter?
Again an unfortunate result for Punjab against TN in the Vijay Hazare tournament , again Punjab cruising and game abandoned due to bad weather, and on points we don’t go to semis ! Why don’t we have a reserve day ? Or is it domestic tournament it doesn’t really matter ? @BCCI
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 22, 2019
Joining the bandwagon now is Harbhajan Singh who replied to Mandeep’s tweet, stating, “Sick rule why not reserve day for these tournaments @BCCI must look into this and change it.”
Sick rule why not reserve day for these tournaments @BCCI must look into this and change it https://t.co/4qALIVsb2f
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 21, 2019
