South Zone selectors have decided to defy the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) directive. The board had written to all the cricket associations a couple of days ago regarding the exclusion of centrally contracted players from their squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025-27.
While the email had gone to all boards, it was primarily directed to the South Zone, which had included just Tilak Varma in their team. The five notable exclusions were KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Sai Sudharsan, and Prasidh Krishna.
South Zone rejects BCCI’s demand
Last year, the BCCI had made it mandatory for centrally contracted players to feature in domestic tournaments, if and when available. Since zonal selectors picked the squads, they didn’t include the five Test players mentioned. The BCCI didn’t like this and wrote the mail.
However, the South Zone is sticking by their decision. They argue that only domestic performers deserve a spot in the team. If the BCCI wishes for centrally contracted players to feature in the Duleep Trophy, it should make them feature in the Ranji Trophy so that they can qualify for the Duleep Trophy. Furthermore, if the BCCI wants to give them more playtime, they can select them for India A matches as well.
“Kerala qualified for the Ranji Trophy final (for the first time ever in the competition’s history of 90 editions) and lost it narrowly. They had a remarkable season, and their players deserved selection for the Duleep Trophy. If the India players are to be taken into the squad, most Kerala players will not find a place in the zonal side,” a South Zone official told Cricbuzz.
South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy
Tilak Varma (c), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vc & wk), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, N Jagadeesan (wk), T Vijay, R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, MD Nidheesh, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar
