History and evolution of the Vijay Hazare Trophy
Why “Vijay Hazare”?
The tournament is named after the legendary Vijay Samuel Hazare, one of India’s greatest early cricketers.
- He was the first Indian cricketer to lead India to its first-ever Test win (against England in 1952).
- Known for his impeccable technique, he was the first Indian to score a century in both innings of a Test match (against Australia in 1948).
- In 2002, the BCCI renamed the “Ranji One-Day Trophy” to the Vijay Hazare Trophy to honor his immense contribution to the game.
A Brief History
The tournament was first introduced in 1993–94 to improve ODI cricket among domestic talent, as an associated tournament to the Ranji Trophy. For the first ten years, teams played only among their geographical neighbours within specific zones.
How the Tournament Evolved from The Zonal Era to The National Era
- Zonal Era: From 1993 until 2002, the teams were divided into five zones: North, South, East, West, and Central. Teams only played other states within their own zone.
- No National Champion: There was no knockout stage to determine an overall winner. Instead, five different teams would simply be the “Champions” of their respective zones.
- The 2002/03 Shift: A round-robin stage for the top teams from each zone was introduced to crown one ultimate winner. Tamil Nadu became the first-ever national champions under this new format.
- The Current Format: Today, the zonal system has been largely scrapped in favor of a Group System (Group A, B, C, etc.). Teams from across the country now play each other regardless of geography, followed by a high-stakes knockout phase (Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, and a Grand Final).
Vijay Hazare Trophy: Winners List
Era 1: The Zonal Era (1993–2002)
In this period, there was no national final. The winners were the toppers of their respective geographical zones.
| Season | North Zone | South Zone | West Zone | East Zone | Central Zone |
| 1993/94 | Haryana | Karnataka | Mumbai | Bengal | Uttar Pradesh |
| 1994/95 | Punjab | Hyderabad | Maharashtra | Bengal | Madhya Pradesh |
| 1995/96 | Haryana | Karnataka | Mumbai | Bengal | Uttar Pradesh |
| 1996/97 | Delhi | Tamil Nadu | Mumbai | Assam | Madhya Pradesh |
| 1997/98 | Delhi | Tamil Nadu | Mumbai | Bengal | Madhya Pradesh |
| 1998/99 | Punjab | Karnataka | Mumbai | Bengal | Madhya Pradesh |
| 1999/00 | Delhi | Tamil Nadu | Mumbai | Bengal | Madhya Pradesh |
| 2000/01 | Punjab | Tamil Nadu | Mumbai | Odisha | Madhya Pradesh |
| 2001/02 | Punjab | Karnataka | Mumbai | Odisha | Railways |
Era 2: The National Era (2002–Present)
The format shifted to crown one National Champion. Note the 2004/05 season, which is the only time the trophy was shared.
| Season | National Winner | Runner-up | Notable Fact |
| 2002/03 | Tamil Nadu | Punjab | First-ever National Winner |
| 2003/04 | Mumbai | Bengal | Won via round-robin points |
| 2004/05 | TN & UP (Shared) | — | Final tied at Wankhede |
| 2005/06 | Railways | Uttar Pradesh | First title for Railways |
| 2006/07 | Mumbai | Rajasthan | 2nd Title |
| 2007/08 | Saurashtra | Bengal | Renamed to Vijay Hazare Trophy |
| 2008/09 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal | Virat Kohli was the top scorer |
| 2009/10 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal | Back-to-back titles for TN |
| 2010/11 | Jharkhand | Gujarat | MS Dhoni’s state team wins |
| 2011/12 | Bengal | Mumbai | Bengal’s first national title |
| 2012/13 | Delhi | Assam | Delhi’s first national title |
| 2013/14 | Karnataka | Railways | Start of Karnataka’s dominance |
| 2014/15 | Karnataka | Punjab | Defended the title |
| 2015/16 | Gujarat | Delhi | Jasprit Bumrah stars in final |
| 2016/17 | Tamil Nadu | Bengal | Dinesh Karthik scores a 100 in final |
| 2017/18 | Karnataka | Saurashtra | Mayank Agarwal scores 723 runs |
| 2018/19 | Mumbai | Delhi | 3rd Title |
| 2019/20 | Karnataka | Tamil Nadu | 4th Title |
| 2020/21 | Mumbai | Uttar Pradesh | Prithvi Shaw’s record 827 runs |
| 2021/22 | Himachal Pradesh | Tamil Nadu | Massive upset in the final |
| 2022/23 | Saurashtra | Maharashtra | 2nd Title |
| 2023/24 | Haryana | Rajasthan | First title since 1993 (Zonal) |
| 2024/25 | Karnataka | Vidarbha | 5th Title (Record Tying) |
Key Insights on Record-Breaking Achievements in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Most Successful Teams and Tournament Title Records
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jointly lead the tournament title-winnings with 5 titles each, with Mumbai closing them with 4.
These three teams have won 14 of the 23 national editions—essentially 60% of all trophies.
In the 2004–05 final at Wankhede Stadium, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were declared joint winners after the match ended in a tie; it remains the only instance in the tournament’s history where the trophy was shared.
Himachal Pradesh winning against Tamil Nadu in the 2021–22 season, and Haryana claiming the title in the 2023–24 season without losing a game, stand out as two of the greatest giant-killing campaigns.
Parthiv Patel is the most capped captain in the tournament’s history, with 43 wins in 67 matches, which is also the most wins by any captain in the competition.
Individual Batting Milestones and Career Scoring Records
Ankit Bawne holds the record for the most runs in the tournament’s history with 4,000+ runs and also tops the century list with 15 hundreds.
Narayan Jagadeesan’s 277 remains the highest individual score in the tournament’s history.
Virat Kohli, who was the top scorer of the 2008–09 edition with 534 runs, returned in 2025 for Delhi to score 131 runs off 101 balls against Andhra Pradesh.
Virat Kohli became only the second player after Sachin Tendulkar, and the fastest overall, to reach 16,000 List A runs, achieving the milestone in just 330 innings.
Narayan Jagadeesan enjoyed a personally successful 2022–23 season, during which he created two Vijay Hazare Trophy records. He scored the most runs in a single VHT season and became the first player in the tournament’s history to hit five consecutive centuries, all in the same season, for Tamil Nadu.
Karun Nair is the other cricketer to score 5 centuries in a single VHT season.
Historic Bowling Records and All-Time Leading Wicket Takers
Siddarth Kaul is the only bowler to have taken 150+ wickets in the tournament.
Shahbaz Nadeem, playing for Jharkhand, recorded the best bowling figures in tournament history with 8/10 against Rajasthan at Chennai in 2018.
Vinay Kumar, representing Karnataka, picked a whopping 28 wickets in the 2013–14 edition and remains the highest wicket-taker in a single Vijay Hazare Trophy season.
