The Indian team management has taken a strong decision ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka, which begins on Sunday in Colombo. After registering a dominant 165-run victory in the series opener, Shubman Gill and Co. will be aiming for a clean sweep by winning the second and final Test. Coincidentally, the Duleep Trophy, one of India’s premier domestic red-ball tournaments, is also set to begin on the same day. However, the team management has decided not to release the reserve players from the Indian Test squad for the tournament.
As per a report by the Revsportz, the decision has been taken to ensure India do not run short of options in the event of a concussion substitute being required. Players such as Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi missed out on the first Test, with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna preferred to lead the pace attack.
With India expected to retain the same pace combination for the second Test, Brar and Nabi are likely to remain on the sidelines once again. However, they will have to stay back in Colombo and will not be allowed to join the North Zone squad for the domestic tournament.
Talking about Duleep Trophy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get a golden chance to improve upon his none too impressive First-Class numbers when East Zone take on the severely inexperienced North East Zone in the quarterfinal, starting at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The 15-year-old T20 sensation has only played 12 innings for Bihar in eight First-Class games with a top score of 93 and an average of 17 plus, which is nothing to write home about.
Duleep Trophy, which once used to be an important fixture for India aspirants, has turned out to be just another tournament in the BCCI calendar as most of the players selected aren’t exactly in contention for a Test team berth.
A few years back, the BCCI had decided to scrap off the zonal system and had teams like India Red, Blue, Green, selected by the national selectors strictly picking those who have a future at the highest level. But it has been done away with from the 2025-2026 season, and the Duleep Trophy is back to the old format which serves very little or no purpose in the larger context of Indian cricket.
(With PTI Inputs)
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