What is Duleep Trophy? It’s supposed to be a fairly prestigious domestic first-class tournament, which some of the most distinguished of cricket personalities don’t care about. And they are right. Why should anyone bother about something which can at best can get you to some godforsaken place in the middle of nowhere. Happening people don’t go there.
Ironically, ‘happen’ is the word which has kept this competition alive for some 60-plus years. Through turbulence, negligence and irrelevance. There were years when it was not held. There were experiments. Teams from England, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh played in it. For one year, it was a pink-ball do. Star players treated it like plague. Finally, the BCCI had to issue awhip and make domestic participation mandatory for all comers.
That is why the golden boy of contemporary Indian cricket is leading the North Zone side. Shubman Gill is the first India captain in recent memory to turn up for this. If he eventually does so, that is. Players of his stature don’t indulge in this, especially so soon after leading India in a famous away series. They revel in that for a while instead of going through this drudgery of an event.
So we think. Irrespective of the complete media disinterest and all sorts of discouragement, these tournaments are taken very seriously by the majority of its stakeholders. The players, selectors and the administration treat it with importance. Places in the national team may not come immediately after success in Duleep Trophy, but those performances are not quickly forgotten. At some point, India selection happens due to the runs made and wickets taken in these fixtures.
And, that is why, this upcoming edition of this unheralded competition is important for so many players. Kuldeep Yadav was a glorified passenger in England. Would he not like to have a good go at the batters? Arshdeep Singh should also be fancying another chance to forward his red-ball credentials. Abhimanyu Easwaran must be telling himself that he has to make a few more hundreds.
Not all places in the India XI are secured. There are vacancies in every department apart from the opening batting. The 2-2 draw was celebrated, and rightly. It didn’t hide inadequacies in bowling. India lacked that second and third bowler to a significant extent. Otherwise, it could well have been a series won 3-1. There is no designated No. 3 at the moment. Maybe, somewhere else down the batting order, there is room for back-ups as well.
A lot, potentially, can happen ahead of the Test assignments at home against the West Indies and South Africa. An Ishan Kishan is leading East Zone where Mohammed Shami features in the squad. Dhruv Jurel has been rewarded for his gallantry in England with the captainship of Central Zone. Shryeas Iyer is waiting to prove a point. Sarfaraz Khan, R Sai Kishore. The boys of Vidarbha and Kerala. It’s a long list. They will put up a dogfight and be friends again after the day’s play.
In 2005, after being sacked from the position of India captain and losing his place in the side, Sourav Ganguly went to Rajkot to make himself relevant in a Duleep Trophy game between East Zone and North. With a chuckle, the local organisers laid out a green top, which was ahistorical from the region’s cricket background. Ganguly hammered a hundred and that was the beginning of a famous comeback.
Don’t ignore Duleep Trophy. Those who play in it don’t.