The All-India Inter-University Cricket Championship held for the Rohinton Baria Gold Trophy (or simply, Rohinton Baria Trophy) is India's premier inter-university

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

tournament. It has been contested annually since the 1935/36 season.

History

The trophy was donated in 1935 by Ardeshir Dadabhoy Baria of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

in memory of his son Rohinton, for a tournament to be played between the Indian universities. Initially, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised the tournament, but the Inter-University Sports Board of India (IUSB) took over in 1940/41. The university teams compete in zones before the winners and runners-up from each zone play off in semi-finals and finals. Until 1989/90, when the format was changed to a one-day 50-over contest, the finals were usually held over three or four days at the campus of one of the finalists or at a neutral venue. Sometimes matches were played to a finish regardless of time; the 1956-57 match went on for eight days and finished when

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, having set

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

728 to win, dismissed them for 611 in 304.1 overs. Apart from Indian universities, Ceylon University also participated from 1947/48 to 1969/70. The only university from the future

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

to compete before Partition was the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, which won the title four times. In its early decades participation in the tournament helped prepare many future

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and first-class players, especially in the larger universities. In their team that won the 1940/41 final,

had four future Indian Test players (

Ranga Sohoni Sriranga Wasudev 'Ranga' Sohoni (5 March 1918 – 19 May 1993) was an Indian international cricketer. He was an all-rounder, who batted well under pressure and bowled relentlessly on South Asian surfaces. International Cricket Sohoni toured ...

Hemu Adhikari Colonel Hemchandra "Hemu" Ramachandra Adhikari (31 July 1919 – 25 October 2003) was an Indian cricketer, representing his country both as a player and a coach in a career that spanned three decades. He received the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime ...

Chandra Sarwate Chandrasekhar Trimbak Sarwate (; 22 July 1920 – 23 December 2003) was an Indian cricketer and fingerprint expert. He was an all-rounder who played nine Test cricket, Test matches for Indian cricket team, India between 1946 and 1951 with no su ...

and Sadu Shinde), while in their 1958/59 champion team they had five future Test players (

Arvind Apte Arvindrao Laxmanrao Apte (24 October 1934 – 5 August 2014) was an Indian cricketer who played in one Test in 1959 against England at Leeds. His brother Madhav Apte was also a cricketer. See also *One Test Wonder In cricket, a one-Test ...

Dilip Sardesai Dilip Narayan Sardesai (; 8 August 1940 – 2 July 2007) was an Indian international cricketer. He played Tests for the Indian national team as a batsman, the first Goa-born cricketer to play for India, and was often regarded as one of India' ...

Ajit Wadekar Ajit Laxman Wadekar (; 1 April 1941 – 15 August 2018) was an Indian international cricketer who played for the Indian national team between 1966 and 1974. Described as an "aggressive batsman", Wadekar made his first-class debut in 1958, ...

– who scored 324 in the final –

Farokh Engineer Farokh Maneksha Engineer (born 25 February 1938) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a wicket-keeper-batsman, usually an opening batsman, who represented India in 46 Test matches from 1961 to 1975. In first-class cricket, he played for Bomba ...

and

Ramakant Desai Ramakant Bhikaji Desai (20 June 1939 in Bombay – 27 April 1998 in Mumbai) was an Indian cricketer who represented India in Test cricket as a fast bowler from 1959 to 1968. Ramakant Desai was an Indian fast bowler, who stood 5 feet 4 inches ta ...

). In their 1945-46 team Punjab University included seven players (

Nazar Mohammad Nazar Mohammad (5 March 1921 – 12 July 1996) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in five Test matches in 1952. He was educated at Islamia College, Lahore. Family His brother Feroz Nizami was a famous music composer while his other brot ...

, Imtiaz Ahmed,

Maqsood Ahmed Maqsood Ahmed (26 March 1925 – 4 January 1999) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 16 Test matches from 1952 to 1955. He was educated at Islamia College, Lahore. Maqsood Ahmed was a useful all rounder in the first ever cricket team of ...

Abdul Hafeez Kardar Abdul Hafeez Kardar PP, HI () (17 January 1925 – 21 April 1996) was a Pakistani cricketer, politician, and diplomat. He was the first captain of the Pakistan cricket team and one of only three players to have played Test cricket for both I ...

Fazal Mahmood Fazal Mahmood PP, HI (18 February 1927 – 30 May 2005) was a Pakistani international cricketer. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70. The first Pakistani to pass 100 wickets, he reached the landma ...

Khan Mohammad Khan Mohammad (Punjabi, ) (1 January 1928 – 4 July 2009) was a cricket player who was a member of Pakistan's first Test team that played against India in 1952. Born in Lahore, Punjab, he was educated at the city's Islamia College. He played ...

and Shujauddin Butt) who later played a prominent part in Pakistan's Test successes in the 1950s. In the 1966–67 final

Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar "Sunny" Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ born 10 July 1949), is a former captain of the Indian national cricket team who represented India national cricket team, India and Mumbai crick ...

played for Bombay University, in 1972-73

Mohinder Amarnath Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (born 24 September 1950) is a former Indian cricketer and cricket analyst. He is the son of Lala Amarnath, the first post-independence captain of India. Mohinder was the vice captain of the Indian team that won the ...

led Delhi University to victory, and

Sanjay Manjrekar Sanjay Vijay Manjrekar (born 12 July 1965) is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer. He played international cricket for India from 1987 until 1996 as a right-handed middle order batsman. He was a part of the Indian squads which w ...

's six consecutive

centuries A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

for Bombay University propelled him into Bombay's

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

team. According to the writer and former Rohinton Baria Trophy and

player Venkatraman Ramnarayan, the Rohinton Baria provided a valuable "finishing school" for future leaders, and a model of dignified behaviour on the sports field which is now lacking. With the rise of widespread junior competitions and coaching for young players, interest in inter-university cricket has waned in recent decades. According to

Harsha Bhogle Harsha Bhogle (born 19 July 1961) is an Indian cricket commentator and journalist. Bhogle has cemented his reputation for being a notable personality in the global cricket broadcasting industry. Early life Bhogle was born into a Marathi-s ...

, who played for

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

, the growth of under-19 cricket destroyed university cricket.

Winners

''Notes:-'' *N/A means not applicable. *Before the 1977/78 season no matches were held for 3rd and 4th positions. *For some of the tournaments between 1994/95 and 2005/06 the finalists and winners are obscure. *The Punjab University that competed before Partition is the

, and the ones that have competed since Partition are the

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahor ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

, and the

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew Universit ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

References

External links

CricketArchive

{{Cricket in India Indian domestic cricket competitions