Duleep trophy: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has expressed displeasure at not including the prominent Indian players in the South Region (South Zone) team for the Dolip Trophy – KL Rahul, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar, the famous Krishna and Sai Sudarshan – in the team. This tournament is starting in Bengaluru from August 28 and it is considered an important platform for domestic players to make a place in the national team.

BCCI Email sent to all state associations
Abe Kuruvilla, the general manager of BCCI’s cricket operations, has sent email to the zonal convenors and all the state associations on the issue and directed that all the Indian players who are currently available should be included in their zonal team. He wrote, “To maintain the reputation of the Dolip Trophy and to highlight the level of the competition, it is necessary that all available India players participate in this tournament.”

Woke up earlier on giving priority to IPL
The BCCI has earlier made it clear to participate in the Central Contracted players of India, so that domestic cricket can be strengthened. The board had already warned about the players who gave priority to the IPL and after the tour of Australia in January, the matter of giving priority to the domestic calendar was repeated.

Will the team change? Picture not clean
Although this instruction of BCCI has come after the South Zone team announcement, it is not clear whether the selectors will now change the team or not. Currently Tilak Verma has been given the captaincy of South Zone, but there is a shortage of major international players in the team.

Other star players will play tournament
While the South region team does not include big names, many major players like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Shreyas Iyer will be seen representing their zones in this tournament.

Domestic players worry …
Many state associations have also expressed concern that if Centrally Contracting players were directly included in the team, then the chances of Ranji Trophy players who performed well throughout the season will be reduced. Some believe that platforms like India A Tour or Board Presidents XI can be a better option for international players.

BCCI’s clear message, mandatory participation in domestic sports
Nevertheless, BCCI has reiterated that players who want to be selected in the national team are required to participate in domestic tournaments. Only after the approval of the coach and the selection committee, and "Valid reasons" Only one can get a discount on the basis of.

Dolip Trophy again in zonal format
Significantly, this time the Dolip Trophy has returned to the old zonal format, where the teams are selected by the zonal selectors instead of the National Selection Committee. In such a situation, this instruction of BCCI can also affect the upcoming selection process.