Fans unleash fury on BCCI for 'truly awful' Duleep Trophy treatment: 'Even gully cricket matches are streamed live'

Since Indian cricket has been on pause since August 4, fans were eagerly anticipating the start of the Duleep Trophy, which promised a chance to follow some of the recently performing stars from the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. However, they were in for a rude shock on realising that the BCCI decided not to live-stream one of India's important domestic cricket tournaments. The Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup are the top three domestic First-Class competitions in India, with the Duleep Trophy taking the second spot only to the Ranji Trophy. The Duleep Trophy has a rich history(Hindustan Times)

The first and second Quarterfinal matches between North Zone vs East Zone and Central Zone vs North-East Zone featured some top names in Indian cricket. Mohammed Shami, who has been out due to injury, is back in action representing the East Zone, where Mukesh Kumar is his fast-bowling partner and Riyan Parag is a star attraction among batters. Yash Dhull and Arshdeep Singh are in the North Zone Playing XI. The other game features Kuldeep Yadav, Rajat Patidar and Deepak Chahar. However, no coverage of these matches on any of the live streaming platforms has left fans upset, with many of them expressing their anger on X.

Here are some reactions:

What to look forward to in the Duleep Trophy

The Duleep Trophy returns to its traditional zone formats after it was rejigged last year to India A, B, C and D teams. This season of the Duleep Trophy will also mark the BCCI’s first trial of the ‘serious injury replacement substitute’ rule.

While several Indian stars would miss Duleep Trophy this year, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, to name a few, all eyes will be on Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan, two players who appear to have slipped out of favour. Iyer’s omission from the Asia Cup squad, despite strong returns in the Champions Trophy and IPL, has already sparked debate. Sarfaraz, meanwhile, was left on the sidelines during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before being dropped from the Test squad for the England tour. Yet the 27-year-old has responded in style, smashing two centuries for Mumbai in the Buchi Babu Invitational in Chennai.

Click here to read article