Opinion BCCI has reminded top players to participate in upcoming Duleep Trophy. That’s a good thing

in January, the Arun Jaitley Stadium was packed when Virat Kohli played his first domestic game in 12 years. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had made it mandatory for centrally contracted cricketers to appear in domestic matches when not on national duty. The BCCI diktat was first issued in early 2024 and reiterated following the 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series in Australia, which came on the heels of a shocking 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home. It’s a welcome sign that despite the Shubman Gill-captained Test team giving a good account of themselves by earning a hard fought 2-2 series draw in England, the BCCI has reminded top players to play in the upcoming Duleep Trophy.

While Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal will turn out for North Zone and West Zone respectively, the BCCI missive was aimed at Test players who were not part of the South Zone squad, including opener K L Rahul and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, both heroes of the England series. BCCI’s general manager (cricket operations) Abey Kuruvilla reminded the state associations, who pick the Duleep Trophy squads for their respective zones, “that it’s imperative that all currently available India players are selected for their respective zonal teams”. This is not a case of the BCCI blindly throwing the rule book at players.

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The focus of the men’s team will now turn to the T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka early next year and the Asia Cup that is around the corner, also a T20 format tournament. But lest we forget, there are four Test matches that are part of the World Test Championship cycle to be played at home; two each against the West Indies and South Africa. Taking lessons from the loss to New Zealand, when the Test team was out-played and batsmen found wanting against spin and pace on home wickets, pushing top cricketers to play long-form matches like the Duleep Trophy will help them gain valuable red-ball game time. The team carries the momentum from the series in England. But being out in the middle and playing is better than sitting on laurels too long.