India has a prosperous legacy of domestic cricket and most of the domestic championships are still very popular in this cricket crazy nation. These domestic competitions also offer unparallel opportunities to the selectors in identifying the potential talents. One of these championships is the famous Deodhar trophy
The championship is named after Professor Dinkar Balwant Deodhar, a former Indian cricketer who is still considered as the grand old man of cricket in India. Born in Pune, Deodhar was one of the finest batsmen to have played for Maharashtra in his times. He passed away in 1993 in Pune at the age of 101.
History of the trophy
The first season of the Deodhar trophy was launched in 1973-74. The trophy can be considered as the One-Day equivalent of the famous Ranji trophy which is played on format of test matches. It is played on the league basis. The first match of this trophy that was played between East Zone and South Zone was also the first one-day match to be recorded in India. The first season was won by South Zone. Till now, North Zone has emerged as champions eleven times. Central Zone came out victorious in 2008-09 season.
The Format of the Trophy
The trophy follows a unique pattern with no finals or semi-finals. The zone that merits the points table with maximum victories is conferred as the winner. The idea behind choosing this particular pattern is that the winner should be selected on the basis of consistency in the performance rather than one match performance. The points are given on the basis of scenarios like outright wins for which the team is allotted four points and in the case of outright lose as well as games with no results two points are given. There are concepts of bonus points and bonus concedes. The team with the highest sum of points is declared the winner of the season.