Will KL Rahul, Siraj play Duleep Trophy? BCCI tells state associations to pick India players after top Test cricketers were ignored by South Zone

Irked by the non-selection of top players like KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj for the Duleep Trophy squad by South Zone, the BCCI has written to all state associations to select centrally-contracted players for the domestic season-opener.

The BCCI sent an email last week after a few associations didn’t pick international players for the premier domestic tournament scheduled to start on August 28 in Bengaluru. The move was primarily triggered by South Zone’s decision not to select Rahul, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, and Siraj. India players are currently availing a month-long break after the England tour.

BCCI’s general manager (cricket operations) Abey Kuruvilla reminded the state associations, who pick the Duleep Trophy squads for their respective zones, about the need to give the premier domestic tournament the desired respect.

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“To uphold its prestige and ensure the highest quality of competition, it’s imperative that all currently available India 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 Duleep trophy should be picked,” Kuruvilla wrote in an email accessed by The Indian Express.

Last year, the BCCI had laid down the rule that it’s “mandatory” for international players to make themselves available for all domestic cricket, after they noticed a trend of some players “prioritising IPL”. This year, after the Test series in Australia concluded in January, the board had again reiterated that it was mandatory for players to feature in domestic cricket.

However, many state associations feel that international stars should play for India A or the Board President’s XI instead of Duleep or Deodhar Trophy. Their argument is that because of the influx of national stars, the Ranji players who had worked hard through a season are forced to sit out of the Duleep Trophy. 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 was the first team to pick its Duleep Trophy squad on July 27 and they named Tilak Varma as the captain. The BCCI hadn’t issued their diktat at that point. However, there is no clarity whether South Zone will change their squad post Kuruvilla’s email. Top players 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.

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Kuruvilla had also written that all contracted players have to adhere to the guidelines sent to them.

“Participation in domestic matches: All players, contracted or otherwise, who make themselves available for selection into Team India, shall participate in domestic matches conducted by BCCI. 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.

For the 2025 Duleep Trophy, the teams are picked by zonal selectors, not the national panel, as the tournament has returned to a zonal format. Last season, it was a national selector-picked, team-based tournament.

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