Duleep Trophy 2022: National selectors will not pick squads; state associations to appoint zonal panels

The six zonal selection committees - consisting of chief selectors of each of the teams in its respective zone - are set to meet either on Wednesday or Thursday ahead of the tournament.

FILE PHOTO: The India Red team after clinching the 2019-20 Duleep Trophy with an innings and 38 runs defeat of India Green at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on September 07, 2019. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU

Members of the men’s senior national selection panel will not be a part of the zonal selection committees that will finalise the squads for the forthcoming Duleep Trophy.

The six zonal selection committees - consisting of chief selectors of each of the teams in its respective zone - are set to meet either on Wednesday or Thursday ahead of the Duleep Trophy, starting on September 8.

The Duleep Trophy will return in its conventional avatar of an inter-zonal tournament for the first time since 2014-15. However, unlike in the past, the national selectors will not be involved in zonal squad selection.

According to the Supreme Court-enforced rulebook of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), national selectors cannot be a part of zonal committees. A BCCI insider confirmed to Sportstar that none of the four members of the existing national panel will attend the zonal meetings.

After its last inter-zonal edition in 2014-15, the Duleep Trophy was suspended in 2015-16. It resumed in 2016-17 as a three-team tournament, with the national selectors selecting the squads for the next four editions. The pandemic forced the tournament to be abandoned for the last two years.