The inter-zonal varsity tournament for the Vizzy Trophy that produced cricketing greats like Sunil Gavaskar,Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin,has been scrapped. The sports committee of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) at a recent meeting in Ajmer decided to withdraw its commitment to organise the tournament because of its differences with the BCCI over the mode of funding. We have decided to stop conducting the Vizzy Trophy. The BCCI was sidelining us, AIU under secretary Gurdeep Singh told The Indian Express. Sources present at the Ajmer meeting said the BCCIs refusal to pay the administrative cost for last years Vizzy Trophy to AIU apparently a modest sum of Rs 2 lakh acted as the trigger for the decision. The Boards recent policy of reimbursing the cost of organising directly to the host university bypassing the AIU hasnt gone down well with the Association. We,as a member of the BCCI,can expect this little courtesy, said Singh. Reacting to the news,BCCIs Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty said,Let them write to us saying what their problems are,and we can reply. They are a member of BCCI,if there is any issue,they should come to the Board. Shetty confirmed that there have been differences between the BCCI and AIU for some time now. We have an annual budget of Rs 18 lakh for universities to hold their tournament. The problem is,Vizzy Trophy games are held without involving the state associations, he said. For instance,if Vizzy Trophy games are held in Mumbai,the Mumbai Cricket Association could take care of the grounds and accommodation. But the universities didnt show any interest (in working together). Former India captain and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said scrapping Vizzy will hit young cricketers hard. Doing well in Vizzy presented a golden opportunity to get into the state team. In my time,getting into the Mumbai University side was very difficult. Not only me,Vizzy produced many cricketers who went on to play for India, he said. (With Devendra Pandey)
