The 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy was the 28th edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, an annual List A cricket tournament in India. The tournament took place from 20 February to 14 March 2021.[1]Karnataka were the defending champions.[2]
In January 2021, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the tournament would take place after the 2020–21 Ranji Trophy was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] 38 teams were split into six groups,[5] with six teams in Groups A to E and eight teams in the Plate Group.[6] The top five teams from Groups A to E, along with next two highest ranked teams across those groups advanced to the quarter-finals. The next best ranked team in Groups A to E faced the winner of the Plate Group in the Eliminator, with the winner of that fixture also advancing to the quarter-finals.[7]
On the opening day of the tournament, Jharkhand scored 422/9 against Madhya Pradesh,[8] the highest total by any team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.[9] This record was broken five days later, when Mumbai made 457/4 against Pondicherry.[10] In the match, Mumbai's Prithvi Shaw scored the highest individual total in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 227 not out.[11]
Groups A, B and C all concluded on 28 February 2021, with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka all winning their respective groups to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.[12][13] The remaining three groups finished on the following day, with Mumbai and Saurashtra winning Groups D and E respectively,[14] and Uttarakhand winning the Plate Group.[15]Uttar Pradesh and Kerala qualified for the knockout stage as the next two best-placed teams, with Delhi facing Uttarakhand in the Eliminator match.[16] Delhi beat Uttarakhand by four wickets in the Eliminator match to join the other seven teams in the quarter-finals.[17]
On day one of the quarter-finals, Gujarat beat Andhra Pradesh by 116 runs,[18] and Karnataka beat Kerala by 80 runs to progress.[19] In the remaining two quarter-final matches, Uttar Pradesh beat Delhi by 46 runs,[20] and Mumbai beat Saurashtra by nine wickets.[21] The first semi-final saw Uttar Pradesh beat Gujarat by five wickets,[22] with Mumbai beating the defending champions Karnataka by 72 runs in the second semi-final.[23] Mumbai won the tournament, to take their fourth title, beating Uttar Pradesh by six wickets in the final.[24]
