Abhishek Thakur Trophy T-20 from Nov 3 in Pune, 20 teams to compete

The Abhishek Thakur Trophy, an inter-club open group T-20 tournament held every year in memory of Abhishek Thakur, begins in Pune on November 3. This is its eighth year.

The tournament is being organised by Pune Cricket Academy and Sagar Kamble. Matches will be played at the Brilliants Sports Academy ground in Yewalewadi. Twenty teams from Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and the district will take part. Several well-known players, including current and former Ranji players from Pune, will feature, which will be the highlight of the tournament.

Tournament directors Sagar Kamble and Narendra Thakur said the main aim of the event is to promote cricket in the city and give local players a platform to compete. According to them, teams have responded well this time, with 20 teams registering. Matches will be played as league and knockout rounds.

Defending champions Game Changers and runners-up V-Edge, along with Munde Sports (Mumbai), AD Sports (Ratnagiri), Knock-99, NBC, United Sports Club, AB Cricket Club, MES Club, Platinum Cricket Academy, Scale-Up A and B, Brilliants Sports Academy, Hemant Patil Academy, Mavericks, Shashi Patil XI, All Star, Braveheart Club, Galaxy Dreamers and hosts Pune Cricket Academy will compete for the title.

The total prize money is Rs 2 lakh. The winning team will receive Rs 1 lakh and a trophy. The runners-up will receive Rs 50,000 and a trophy.

There are also separate awards for individual performance. Prizes will be given for the best player of the tournament, best batter, best bowler, best all-rounder, best fielder, best wicketkeeper and best emerging player. The best player of each match will receive the Man of the Match award as well as a Fighter of the Match award. Players will therefore be competing for individual honours as well as the team title.