The 2024 edition of the Duleep Trophy got underway this week. Several established names in Indian cricket are in action in the historic tournament after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) advised all players to make themselves available to play domestic cricket unless they are injured.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Vijay Dahiya praised the star players for competing in the Duleep Trophy during a recent interview, highlighting the importance of domestic cricket.

“Domestic tournaments are absolutely important for the game. I can understand when players are playing a heavy schedule and they opt to sit out but this year's Duleep Trophy was a season opener. When you want to judge a youngster coming into the side the value of the runs is higher if it's against strong bowlers. I am happy to see the amount of talent that are playing in this year's Duleep trophy,” Dahiya said.

Big names in Indian cricket like Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Axar Patel, and many more are featuring in the Duleep Trophy.

Dahiya is currently serving as the head coach of Purani Dilli-6 in the inaugural edition of the Delhi Premier League (DPL). His team finished third on the points table at the end of the round-robin phase of the tournament. They lost to South Delhi Superstarz in the league stage and will look to avenge that defeat in the semi-finals. Dahiya asserted that the defeat against South Delhi won't count for much in the knockout clash.

“Confidence is absolutely important especially when you are making a comeback. You have to realise that it is a very fast-paced tournament and you will lose games but what's important is how many you end up winning. Confidence is not important just when you're losing, it is also important when you're winning. The support staff tried to build an environment to raise confidence where they can perform to their level best,” he added.

“I don't think so, the main purpose of the tournament was to reach the top four and we have done that. We're in the knockout stage and it's a knockout game for them as well. They have two batters who have been batting exceptionally well so we need to counter them. Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya are the main pillars of their team so we need to get them out early,” concluded Dahiya.