The Sportstar Trophy under-19 tournament, considered as selection trials to pick the Mumbai colts side for the upcoming Cricket Board-conducted age-limit tournaments, is to commence on September 17 here.
The tournament, to be played on a round robin basis among four teams, is in its 28th year and going strong, said N Parthasarathy, assistant vice president (west) of "The Hindu" group of publications, who organises the annual tournament under the aegis of Mumbai Cricket Association, at a media conference last night.
"Sachin Tendulkar was the man of the tournament in its inaugural year (1987)," informed Parthasarathy.
The members of the four squads - Vijay Merchant XI, Vijay Manjrekar XI, Dattu Phadkar XI and Khandu Rangnekar XI - will be picked by MCA's junior selection panel headed by former India stumper Chandrakant Pandit.
With the grand Ganpati immersion scheduled in the city on September 18, the first game in the tournament - between Merchant XI and Manjrekar XI and between Rangnekar XI and Phadkar XI - would have a break on that day before resuming on September 19.
The last two rounds in the tournament are slated for September 24-26 and October 1-3.
