New Delhi: The BCCI has informed state associations to pick Indian Test players for the upcoming Duleep Trophy. According to The Indian Express report, the board is not pleased by the non-selection of top players like KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj in the South Zone squad and has written to all state associations to pick centrally-contracted players for the domestic tournament.
The BCCI sent an email to a few associations last week after they didn’t pick international players for the domestic-season opener, which is set to start on August 28 in Bengaluru. The move was primarily taken due to the exclusion of KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, and Siraj in the South Zone squad.
The Indian players are currently enjoying a month-long break from cricket after the five-match Test series against England. The state associations have already selected squads for their respective zones, and the BCCI general manager Abey Kuruvilla reminded them to give respect to the Premier domestic tournament.
Kuruvilla wrote in an email accessed by The Indian Express that to uphold its prestige and the highest quality of competition, it’s imperative that all currently available Indian players are selected for their respective zonal teams.
“Requesting the Zonal Convenors to ensure that all the current India players who are available to play the Duleep Trophy should be picked,” the letter said.
Last year, the BCCI made a mandatory rule for international players to make themselves available for all domestic tournaments, after they noticed a trend of some players prioritising IPL. After the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the board had again reiterated that players need to play in domestic cricket.
However, many state associations believe that international players should only play for India A or the Board’s President XI instead of the domestic tournaments, as they feel that the players who had done well in past seasons don’t get rewarded for their performance once the India players walk into the side.
South Zone selected its squad Duleep Trophy on July 27, and they named Tilak Varma as the captain. However, there is still no clarity whether the South Zone will change their squad after Kuruvilla’s email. Many top cricketers like Shubman Gill (Test captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Shreyas Iyer will be playing for their respective zones in the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
‘Contracted players shall participate in domestic tournaments’: BCCI general secretary
The BCCI general secretary had also written that all players, contracted or otherwise, who make themselves available for selection into Team India, shall participate in domestic matches conducted by the board.
“In case any player opts not to participate in any domestic cricket tournaments in spite of availability, he/she shall not be considered for selection unless a prior recommendation is obtained to skip the match/tournament from the National coach and the chairman of selection committee, and prior approval from the BCCI. In case any leave is granted, the same shall be considered on the basis of some valid and cogent reason,” he added.