The Duleep Trophy needs to be treated with greater respect by the Board.
The once-celebrated and star-studded tournament with several India players taking part in it, now languishes in the sidelines.
Mercifully, it is still played in whites but the colour of the ball has changed. It is pink.
You wonder why since Duleep is not an experimental tournament and no other competition in India is played with a pink ball under the lights.
Different dynamics
And if the selectors are to assess talent, they cannot do so on the basis of performances with the pink ball, whose dynamics are different, with the bowlers often finding it hard to grip the sphere.
And just consider this. India Red was forced to replace as many as five players in the eleven for the final since many of its cricketers were drafted in for other representative sides such as India-A.
And on a brown, dusty pitch that offered turn, Red did not have a left-arm spinner to pick for the final since Shahbaz Nadeem was roped in by India-A.
In fact, it was a case of musical chairs for the Duleep Trophy sides with players coming in and going out. The sides wore an unsettled look, some undeserving cricketers got a look-in.
Since the selectors picked the India, India-A and -B sides apart from selecting the three Duleep outfits, these were further changed and chopped, there was not much to choose from.
This is precisely why the timing of the Duleep Trophy, when several more cricketers are available, is so important.
Despite the odds, some cricketers impressed. Middle-order Dhruv Shorey made 293 runs at 58.60, elegant opener Sanjay Ramaswamy notched up 267 at 53.40, and the compact B. Aparajith, 191 at 63.66.
In the final, the fleet-footed Anmolpreet Singh’s 96 was a quality innings. And Nikhil Gangta’s strokeful 130 in the title clash underlined his promise.
And left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, a short bowler not averse to flighting the ball, scalped 19 at 19.26. Another left-arm spinner, the lanky Swapnil Singh, showcased his control in the final. Among the pacemen, Rajneesh Gurbani, a canny swing bowler, and K. Vinesh, a crafty seamer, caught the eye.
Sense of pride
It is time the BCCI reverts to the zonal format to lend Duleep more context. The cricketers play with greater intensity and a sense of pride when they represent their respective zones.
The NPR College ground here, flanked by mountains on both sides, is a spectacular venue but the wearing pitches with unpredictable bounce were not suited for the competition. Too much hinged on the toss.
