The Men behind the trophies: Tournaments and the cricketers they were named for

Vijay Hazare Trophy

About the tournament

Essentially the One-Day equivalent of the Ranji Trophy, the Vijay Hazare trophy is played with the same teams, who are slotted arbitrarily into four groups, A, B, C and D, and not necessarily on the basis of geographical location.

The members of each group play each other in a round-robin format, the results of which decide the winner and runner-up of each group as eventual quarter-finalists. The top 2 teams from each Group qualify for the quarter-finals, although no two teams from the same group will contest one another.

The format of the Vijay Hazare, although previously zonal, was streamlined significantly over the years after several changes.

Tamil Nadu are the defending champions of the Vijay Hazare trophy, having defeated Bengal in the finals in the 2016-2017 season.

Who was Vijay Hazare?

Yet another feature on several 'Greats' lists, Vijay Hazare was perhaps one of the most notable early cricketers to play for India, as opposed to a number of men born and playing in the years before him, who chose to play for England, under whose rule India would remain for the large majority of Hazare's own cricketing career.

Born in the British Presidency of Bombay in Sangli, which is in modern-day Maharashtra, Hazare came from fairly modest means; his father was a schoolteacher, and the young Hazare had seven siblings, as was common for that time. One of his siblings, Vivek, also played first class cricket, and was on a few teams led by his brother.

Although he was known most for his skills with the bat, the right-hander was also adept at medium-pace.

Hazare - who was considered by many a 'mild-mannered' man, was thought to be unfit for captaincy, but nevertheless, as one of India's first ever cricketing captains, he was the first to lead the side to victory.

Hazare excelled in the longer formats of the game, setting high averages in both Tests and first class cricket; incidentally, he made his debut for India against England at Lords in 1946. He would become the first Indian to lead the team to Test victory - also against England, but six years later at then-Madras, in 1952.

In his 20s, Hazare won one of his most remarkable feats, and perhaps one of his biggest records. Playing for Maharashtra against Baroda in Pune in 1939, 24-year-old Vijay Hazare finished his innings at 316 not out, and became the first Indian to score a triple century in cricket. 80 years on from then, it is still not a common feat.

That was not the only triple century Hazare would score.

Incidentally, it was at the Ranji Trophy that Hazare excelled most, finishing with 6312 runs in the format at an average of 68.61. But his Test win against England for India in 1952, 5 years after Indian independence, was the crowning glory of the Mumbai batsman's career.

A talented pacer, Hazare took just under 600 first-class wickets.

Hazare was capped variously for Maharashtra, Central India and Baroda over his Ranji career, and scored 22 centuries in the format.

He faded away from cricket in the years following 1953, but took an active interest in cricket and was on the BCCI's selection comitttee, chairing it in 1960.

Hazare and Jasubhai Patel became the first cricketers to be awarded India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 1960.

At 89 years old, Hazare lost a lengthy battle with cancer in 2004.