Courtesy: BCCI/X
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly decided to bring back the zonal format of the Duleep Trophy next year after brushing it aside in favour of a four-team format in the ongoing 2024-25 season. During the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the BCCI, the officials had a general consensus that the four-team format for the prestigious red-ball first-class tournament didn’t serve its purpose, which is why it’s only going to be prudent to discontinue it after one season.
It has been mentioned that the few state associations weren’t happy with the four-team format of the Duleep Trophy earlier this month as per the report from Cricbuzz, when India A, B, C, and D, competed in a single round-robin competition in Benglauru and Anantapur recently. India A had won the tournament after winning two and losing one of their three matches, accumulating 12 points, three more than India C in second place, while India B and India D finished in third place with seven points and fourth place with six points respectively.
Few state associations weren't happy with some players not getting picked in four-team tournament
The contentious point for the state associations was regarding the player selection in the four Duleep Trophy 2024 teams by the BCCI national selectors. They argued the point about how some of the players, who may have deserved to be picked in the 2024-25 season of the tournament, didn’t not feature due to the new format, to which the BCCI officials agreed that the it should return to its original format, and they go on to hold it as an inter-zonal competition.
Notably, there were only five zones in the past when the BCCI hosted the Duleep Trophy on a zonal basis. But now, with the inclusion of the Northeast zone into the mix alongside the North, South, East, and West, the officials of the Indian cricketing governing body will have to figure out a way to host the tournament with six different teams from 2025 onwards.
