Duleep Trophy to revert to zonal format from next season
The Duleep Trophy, one of India's cricketing jewels, is making a comeback to its classic zonal format for the upcoming season. This move comes after state units seemed disgruntled with the four-team structure this year. The 2024 edition had teams India A, B, C, and D but faced a lot of flak from state associations, who raised concerns at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Bengaluru.
State units criticize four-team structure
The 2024 Duleep Trophy, which saw India A emerging victorious under Mayank Agarwal's captaincy, has been labeled a flop. The reason? It didn't offer equal chances to players from all cricketing zones in India. This year, the BCCI refrained from the zonal format where teams from six zones - Central, East, West, North, South, and North-East - would compete. Although the new format had international stars like Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, it didn't sit well with the state units.
State units demand return to zonal format
A state unit official told PTI, "The state units felt the format used this season did not give a fair representation to players from their respective zones. The traditional zonal format gives players more opportunities zone-wise, and that is what was conveyed in the AGM today."
BCCI aims to provide more opportunities
The zonal format, scrapped for this edition, was designed to give players from several regions a shot. Now that it is making a comeback, the BCCI is all set to let more cricketers flaunt their skills. This change is likely to help a lot when it comes to picking players for the national team.
