File photo of India all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Photo: X/Hardik Pandya File photo of India all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Photo: X/Hardik Pandya

After a washout and two defeatsmilyon88, Kerala's Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 campaign effectively starts on the final day of the year when they take on Bengal. (More Cricket News)

This blockbuster clash is one of the three Group E fixtures scheduled for Tuesday (December 31, 2024). There's a certain Hardik Pandya ready to make his mark, also. All the matches start at 9:00 AM IST.

The focus, of course, would be on the Bengal vs Kerala clash at Hyderabad's NexGen Cricket Ground. Both teams have faced washouts, but Kerala's fate hangs by a thread.

They were outboxed by Baroda in a high-scoring opener, then were dismissed for 229 while chasing Delhi's 258/8. And regular captain Sanju Samson is conspicuous by missing.

In between the defeats, they shared the spoils with Madhya Pradesh due to rain. Amid the chaos, expect this talented Kerala side to give Bengal a run for their money.

The 2011-12 champions, on the contrary, are unbeaten in three matches. They beat presumed favourites Delhi and Baroda, by six and seven wickets, respectively, but were unlucky to settle for no result against minnows Tripura.

Bengal: Abishek Porel (wk), Karan Lal, Sudip Kumar Gharami (c), Sudip Chatterjee, Anustup Majumdar, Kaushik Maity, Sumanta Gupta, Mukesh Kumar, Pradipta Pramanik, Sayan Ghosh, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sakshaim Chaudhary, Kanishk Seth, Subham Chatterjee, Mohammed Kaif, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Rohit Kumar, Ranjot Khaira, Vikas Singh, and Mohammed Shami.

Kerala: Rohan Kunnummal, Jalaj Saxena, Shoun Roger, Ahammed Imran, Aditya Sarwate, Sharafuddeen, Salman Nizar (c), Mohammed Azharuddeen (wk), Abdul Basith, Basil Thampi, Nedumankuzhy Basil, MD Nidheesh, Sijomon Joseph, Suresh Vishweshwar, Eden Apple Tom, Vaisakh Chandran, Krishna Prasad, Akhil Scaria, Maruthungal Ajinas, and Anand Krishnan.

Delhi vs Tripura at Gymkhana Ground, Hyderabad

It's now or never for Ayush Badoni Delhi, who have two wins and two defeats. With Madhya Pradesh and Bengal already on 10 points each, Delhi need to win both their remaining group matches to stand a chance of progressing to the knock-outs. And they can't ask for a kinder fixture than a meeting with Tripura.

But Tripura have shown their fighting spirit by defeating Bihar, a team which defeated Delhi. And they have a capable leader in Mandeep Singh. The former Punjab star moved to the North East in August, and has since replaced Wriddhiman Saha as the captain.

Delhi vs Tripura Squads

Delhi: Sarthak Ranjan, Hrithik Shokeen, Sanat Sangwan, Ayush Badoni (c), Himmat Singh, Anuj Rawat (wk), Sumit Mathur, Ayush Doseja, Akhil Chaudhary, Prince Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Vaibhav Kandpal, Navdeep Saini, Mayank Gusain, Tejasvi Dahiya, Priyansh Arya, Harsh Tyagi, and Jonty Sidhu.

Tripura: Bikramkumar Das, Jiwanjot Singh, Bishal Ghosh, Sridam Paul, Mandeep Singh (c), Manisankar Murasingh, Srinivas Sharath (wk), Ajay Sarkar, Bikramjit Debnath, Parvez Sultan, Abhijit K Sarkar, Samrat Sutradhar, Tejasvi Jaiswal, Babul Dey, Saruk Hossain, Sankar Paul, Dwaipayan Bhattacharjee, Arjun Kshitish Debnath, Rajat Dey, Saurabh Das, Chiranjit Paul, Kaushal Acharjee, and Rana Dutta.

Baroda vs Bihar at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

Hardik Pandya's reinforcement didn't really help as Baroda suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Bengal in their third match of the VHT 2024-25 season. They have two wins (against Tripura and Kerala) though, and can still end with 20 points (four points for a win). But they first need to beat Bihar.

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Bihar are high from their big Delhi scalp albeit in a truncated match. Despite winning only once in three outings (defeats against Madhya Pradesh and Tripura), the unfancied Bihar side can cause some damage.

Baroda vs Bihar Squads

Baroda: Shashwat Rawat, Ninad Ashvinkumar Rathva, Krunal Pandya (c), Hardik Pandya, Vishnu Solanki (wk), Bhanu Pania, Shivalik Sharma, Raj Limbani, Mahesh Pithiya, Lukman Meriwala, Akash Maharaj Singh, Parth Kohli, Bhargav Bhatt, Atit Sheth, Babashafi Pathan, Jyotsnil Singh, Amit Passi, and Lakshit Toksiya.

Bihar: Sakibul Gani (c), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Baljeet Singh Binny (wk), Mangal Mahrour, Harsh Raj, Bipin Saurabh, Rishav Raj, Raghuvendra Pratap Singh, Himanshu Singh, Suraj Kashyap, Amod Yadav, Kumar Rajnish, Nawaz Khan, Danish Choudhary, Malay Raj, Piyush Singh, Kamlesh Kumar, Sachin Kumar, and Ankit Singh.

Leaders Madhya Pradesh have an off day as six other teams take the field. The Rajat Patidar-led team will play their penultimate group stage match against Baroda on January 3, 2025.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 Group E Points TableSl. No.TeamPlayedWonLostTiedNRPts.NRR1Madhya Pradesh42101101.6592Bengal32001100.9533Baroda3210080.7654Delhi4220080.285Tripura412016-1.7326Bihar312004-1.0267Kerala302012-1.574 Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 Live Streaming And Telecast Details

The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-24 group stage matches will not be streamed or telecast. The knockout matches, however, will be streamed live and telecast on JioCinema and Sports18 channels, respectively.

The knockouts will begin on January 9, 2025, with preliminary quarter-finals. The final is scheduled for January 19. All knockout matches will be played in Vadodara.

However, not everyone from the team flew back home as PR Sreejesh stayed back in the French capital for the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Much like the men, the women did so surrounded by a sea of orangemilyon88, with Dutch fans filling Yves-du-Manoir Stadium and making for a festive atmosphere. Also like the men, it did not happen easily.