Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout stage kicks off on Thursday

Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout stage kicks off on Thursday

One of the issues that has cropped up in Indian cricket in recent times has been the lack of participation from the top stars in domestic cricket.

But come Thursday, when the knockout stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy begins here, some of the top Indian stars will show up for their respective teams.

It is understood that the selectors have asked that the national team players who were in Australia must play in the 50-over competition if their teams have qualified.

Abhimanyu Easwaran has joined the Bengal camp ahead of his side’s pre-quarterfinal match against defending champions Haryana on Thursday. In the other pre-quarterfinal, Tamil Nadu will face Rajasthan.

Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal (both Karnataka), and Shubman Gill (Punjab) are also expected to play in their team’s respective quarterfinal matches on Saturday.

Globally, the one-day format is fighting for relevance sandwiched between T20 and Test cricket. Considering that the one-dayers (VHT) is also being held after the IPL auction, the event doesn’t have a lot of stake for the players.

However, with the focus on the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy next month and the presence of stars, the domestic tournament should get some much-needed limelight.