Top stars set for Corporate Trophy

Team India’s rest period might end prematurely. From Mahendra Singh Dhoni to Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan to Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir to Rahul Dravid, every Indian player is likely to be seen in action in the Corporate Trophy cricket championship.

A new addition to the domestic calendar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India will formulate the rules and announce the fixtures on Monday but is expected to ask the senior players to take part in the newest tournament. It will be held in six centres all over the country from September 1 to 8.

The tournament winners will walk away with a whopping Rs 1 crore and the runners-up Rs 50 lakh. Chennai, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Cuttack, Mohali and Dharamshala are the likely venues. A meeting of the tournament committee, headed by former national selector Sanjay Jagdale, will meet at the Cricket Centre here on Monday and the most difficult decision will be to zero in on the number of teams for the nine-day championship.

Earlier it was decided that it will be a 12-team affair in the inaugural year but there are requests from teams like Reliance (Mukesh Ambani), Indian Port Trust, Chemplast and Canara Bank to allow them to take part in the championship. It is not clear whether the request of the four corporates will be accepted. The 12 teams that are to take part are Air India Mumbai, Air India Delhi, Indian Oil, BSNL, All-India Public Sector, Tata, MRF, ONGC, India Cement, Central Revenue, ITC and BPCL.

The Indian team is expected to leave for Sri Lanka for a tri-series in the island nation on September 8 which means their participation in the tournament is difficult but it is learnt that the Indian players will be asked to take part in the championship as long as it is possible for them.

It is not yet clear which player will play for which side. The Board has asked all the corporates to submit their player list and it could be known on Monday.
It will be a 50-over tournament and all the matches will be day-night affairs.