SAIL Trophy returns in shorter format

The rolling SAIL Trophy,depicting a bowlers arm with a ball in his hand,is a marked departure from standard norm of trophies presented...

The rolling SAIL Trophy,depicting a bowlers arm with a ball in his hand,is a marked departure from standard norm of trophies presented,that usually has a batsman lunging forward and playing the cover-drive. Ironically,though,it will be handed out after an interval of three years - to the winners in a format thats pre-dominantly batsman oriented.

The prestigious SAIL Trophy will enter into its 17th edition in the T20 format from March 15 at the Bharat Nagar Sports Complex. The four-day tournament will feature top eight teams in the Capital in a winners-take-all gradation,with a top prize-money of Rs 1 lakh. The losing finalist will receive Rs 60,000 while there will be individual man of the match prizes.

Announcing the revival of the tournament,former Indian Test cricketer Surinder Khanna called T20 as the current flavour of cricketers and admitted that lack of a proper time slot and hesitancy of teams to commit over long duration forced the organizing committee to come down from its two-day format. The teams have agreed to play at a very short notice,and it was very important for us to revive the trophy after a gap of three years and also ensure the best players be seen in action. Within the constraints,it was best suited that we shift to T20 format,and its definitely exciting, Khanna said.

Air India,LB Shastri,SAIL,Malviya club,ONGC,RR Gymkhana,Sonnet and BSNL have confirmed their participation for the tournament.

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