New Delhi, February 23 The BCCI appointed Niraj Odedra as the head coach of the West Zone in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday, following his success with the Saurashtra team across all formats.
Odedra, a former first-class cricketer, was part of the support staff when Saurashtra won the Ranji Trophy in the 2019-20 and 2022-23 seasons.
As head coach, he also guided Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title in 2022-23, achieving a domestic double, and more recently, to the final in the latest season.
The inter-university 50-over tournament will be held from March 1 to 7 in Goa, with four teams, including the West Zone, North Zone, East Zone, and South Zone, competing. The BCCI revived the tournament, which has a rich history, back in 2018.
"I myself played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy back in the day, and I was also selected for the All India University team. So, in earlier years, there used to be a combined university team every year.
"This is a very good step from the BCCI that they have taken over from those who were running it before, and they are organizing it in a much better way," said Odedra, who represented Saurashtra in 26 first-class games.