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'''Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI''' and '''Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI''' were two [[first-class cricket]] teams, sponsored by the Indian company [[VST Industries|Vazir Sultan Tobacco]], that competed in the [[Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament]] in the 1960s and 1970s.

==Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI==
[[Sunil Gavaskar]], who made his first-class debut for the Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI in 1966-67 at the age of 17,<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/28/28476.html Dungarpur XI v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI 1966-67]</ref> recalls that the team consisted of young cricketers "who were doing well at school and inter-university level. We used to have the odd first-class player, but generally it was a team of young players trying to make their mark in first-class cricket in India."<ref>[http://phone.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/605733.html Sunil Gavaskar, M.A.K. Pataudi Lecture 2013] Retrieved 16 March 2014.</ref>

The team played their first match in 1964-65, under the captaincy of the [[Test cricket|Test]] captain at the time, [[Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi|the Nawab of Pataudi]]. He also captained the team in 1965-66 and 1966-67, when the team played one match each time. Pataudi scored three centuries: one in each match. In 1964-65 [[Ramnath Parkar]] made his first-class debut, in 1965-66 [[Eknath Solkar]], and in 1966-67 [[Mohinder Amarnath]], at 16, made his first-class debut alongside Gavaskar. All three matches were drawn, with Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI conceding the first-innings lead.

In 1967-68, now captained by [[Ambar Roy]], Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI beat Hyderabad Cricket Association XI and Hyderabad Blues to proceed to the semi-final against [[State Bank of India cricket team|State Bank of India]], which ended with the scores level and State Bank of India 57 for 7.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/29/29167.html State Bank of India v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI 1967-68]</ref> In 1968-69 they again reached the semi-final, this time losing a match outright for the first time, to State Bank of India; [[Dilip Doshi]] was among those making their first-class debuts.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/29/29763.html State Bank of India v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI 1968-69]</ref>

[[Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan]] captained a side of nine first-class debutants in 1969-70,<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/30/30673.html R.K. Mody's XI v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI 1969-70]</ref> and [[Bharath Reddy (cricketer)|Bharath Reddy]], aged 18 and making his own first-class debut, captained a side of ten first-class debutants in 1973-74.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/33/33786.html Hyderabad Cricket Association XI v Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI 1973-74]</ref> However, apart from Reddy himself, none of these debutants went on to play Test cricket.

In all, Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI played 10 first-class matches, winning two, losing two, and drawing six.

==Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI==
In contrast to the emphasis on youth of the Colts XI, when the Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI played their first matches in 1970-71 their team included seven Test players, of whom [[Salim Durani]], [[Vijay Manjrekar]] and [[Chandu Borde]] were in their late thirties. The selection policy changed slightly in 1971-72, when three players made their first-class debuts under the captaincy of Venkataraghavan.<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/32/32042.html R.K. Mody's XI v Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI 1971-72]</ref>

They won their first match, against Mafatlal Sports Club,<ref>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/31/31255.html Mafatlal Sports Club v Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI 1970-71]</ref> and drew their other four matches between 1970-71 and 1972-73.

==Other teams==
Vazir Sultan Tobacco has sometimes sponsored teams in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament since the tournament lost its first-class status after the 1973-74 season, as well as in other non-first-class competitions.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/1/1337/First-Class_Matches.html First-class matches played by Vazir Sultan Tobacco Colts XI at CricketArchive]
*[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/1/1338/First-Class_Matches.html First-class matches played by Vazir Sultan Tobacco XI at CricketArchive]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazir Sultan Tobacco cricket teams}}
[[Category:Indian first-class cricket teams]]
[[Category:Former senior cricket clubs of India]]

Vazir Sultan Tobacco cricket teams - Revision history

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