Duleep Trophy’s significance reemerges as Team India prepares for WTC grind, Border-Gavaskar Trophy

India has played just seven Tests in the last 13 months, but with 10 more scheduled in the next four, the upcoming Duleep Trophy gains added significance.

Point to prove: Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were overlooked for BCCI’s 2023-24 retainers list, with the board at the time stressing the importance of participating in domestic cricket when not playing for the national team. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

This September, several Indian cricket A-listers will join forces to reignite the Duleep Trophy, aiming to restore its relevance. The tournament will serve as a dress rehearsal for the packed Test calendar that lies ahead for Rohit Sharma and his team.

India has played only seven Test matches in the past 13 months, with the most recent one against England in March. Now, the team is set to play 10 Tests over the next four months — two against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand at home, and five against Australia in its backyard.

The participation of as many as 19 capped Test players, even if only for the first round, to sharpen their skills ahead of the crucial phase, underscores that domestic cricket has indeed risen on the selectors’ priority list. It also indicates that the omissions of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the central contracts list earlier this year for not playing for their Ranji Trophy teams was not merely posturing.

The only major absentees will be Virat Kohli, who last played a Test match in January, along with Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, and R. Ashwin — the four guaranteed starters whom the selectors are keen to wrap in cotton wool for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year. Mohammad Shami, recovering from ankle surgery, won’t be fit in time for the tournament but is expected to return for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy in October.

Even with this quintet missing, the spotlight is unlikely to shift away from the Duleep Trophy in Anantapur and Bengaluru, which has dropped the zonal format this year. The national selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, has selected four teams — India A, India B, India C, and India D — each comprising 15 players.

READ |Duleep Trophy 2024: Five key bowlers to watch out for ahead of domestic season

Plenty at stake

Seldom in the recent past has a domestic tournament thrown up as many storylines as this Duleep Trophy. The most prominent is the new lease of life offered to Ishan and Shreyas.

Training ground: Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, part of the five home Tests against England this year, would look to use the Duleep Trophy as a platform to prep for the home season. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Shreyas was given a chance during India’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka in July, while Kishan began his comeback in the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament. A series of strong performances here and in the Ranji Trophy could propel both players back into the Test side. Kishan hasn’t featured in any form of international cricket since opting out of the two-Test series in South Africa, while Iyer, left out after the second Test against England, missed the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals due to back spasms, despite being medically cleared by the board’s doctors.

Then there is Rishabh Pant. His flamboyance had proved crucial in India edging past Australia the last time it went Down Under for a Test series. Coming off a year-long injury hiatus after a road accident, Pant has been able to get back in the limited-overs side. While his reputation alone warrants a place in the Test team, especially for the Australia series, having to go through the rigours of domestic cricket will only ease his re-entry into the side.

Contesting Pant for the same spot is K.L. Rahul, who is trying to replenish his stocks in the longer format. A hundred in South Africa as wicketkeeper-batter in December last year should hold him in good stead for a place in the upcoming home series. Dhruv Jurel’s impressive outing against England makes him another enticing option for the wicketkeeper role.

Suryakumar Yadav, a master of T20 cricket and now a World Cup winner in the format, has expressed his ambition to play Test cricket. His recent Duleep Trophy call-up had reignited those hopes, but he has been ruled out of the opening round due to a hand injury sustained during last week’s match for Mumbai at the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Coimbatore. He is currently undergoing a routine assessment at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

Shubman Gill being made captain of India A, following his recent appointment as vice-captain for the Sri Lanka white-ball tour, suggests that the management is preparing him for a future leadership role.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas will captain the other three teams.

Moving on

With the exclusion of Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari and Ishant Sharma, the BCCI has formally signalled its intention to prepare the next set of players.

At the helm: Shubman Gill will lead Team A that has the likes of Riyan Parag, K. L. Rahul, Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav. | Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

Their replacements, including the five who made their Test debuts against England earlier this year — Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Akash Deep, Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal — have been slotted across the four teams.

There is also space for Riyan Parag, Harshit Rana and Tilak Varma, who have made a name largely through their T20 exploits.

With Ashwin, 37, and Ravindra Jadeja, 35, approaching the final stages of their careers, R. Sai Kishore, Saransh Jain, Tanush Kotian, and Manav Suthar — who have tirelessly honed their skills in the domestic circuit — will be eager to solidify their candidacy when an opening arises in the upper echelons.

Testing bench strength

India’s home Test series against Bangladesh starts on September 19, while the Duleep Trophy is slated to run from September 5 to 22. Due to the dates coinciding, the first-team mainstays, including Shubman, Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to depart after the first game. However, the selectors could also find it prudent to protect the mainstays, or even let them carry on with the Duleep Trophy.

India is fairly well placed to advance to a third consecutive World Test Championship final, enabling the selectors to back young guns without hesitation.

The urge to use Bumrah sparingly will leave the field open to quicks Arshdeep Singh and Tushar Deshpande to earn a Test cap.

But beyond opening up slots for youngsters, India’s crammed Test schedule allows First-Class cricket a long-overdue return to vogue.

With the team management emphasising the importance of maintaining a strong talent pipeline, it seems likely that this trend will continue.