Australian XI in limelight among 16 for Buchi Babu tourney

Chennai, Aug 15 (UNI) With focus on youngsters being spotted for the state teams and thereby team Inda, the ideal platform to spot them, the annual Prize money All India Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament to be played here from August 16 to September 3 assumes much significance this year.

However, a talented Under 19 team of Australian Cricket Academy- playing as Australia XI, will hog the limelight this year providing the inspiration for the other 15 teams: reigning champions TNCA XI, Assam XI, Mumbai XI, Karnataka XI, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Baroda, Tripura, Combined Districts XI, Kerala, Vidarbha, Hyderabad, Punjab, Andhra and Rajasthan, host Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) Secretary K S Viswanathan annouced at a press conference last night.

''Each team is assured of three matches in the league phase, providing ample opportunity for the players to show their skill and the selectors to pick their state teams well before the new Ranji Tropphy season'', he observed.

Mr Viswanathan said the teams have been divided into four zones of four teams each in the league phase. The top team from each zone will qualify for the knock out semi finals.

The Prize money for the winner would be Rs One lakh while the runner up will take home Rs 50,000. The losing semi finalists would take home Rs 25,000 each.

A few BCCI umpires would also be standing for the matches, he added.

The five decade-old tournament has come to stay as a favourite competition especially for young talent aspiring to make it to the higher grade. ''We were forced to restrict the entries to 16 teams as the time slot available to conduct the tournament is just 20 days'', Mr Viswanathan said.

UNI