The Duleep Trophy was once meant to be one of the clearest bridges between domestic cricket and India’s Test team. Its latest squads suggest that connection is becoming increasingly difficult to see.
The timing is particularly striking. With fitness concerns forcing India’s national selectors back into the domestic First-Class system, two experienced performers aged 33 and 29 have earned maiden Test call-ups. Yet the Duleep Trophy squads announced this week appear increasingly detached from the same national selection process.
Of the 75 players initially picked across the North, South, East, West and Central zones, only six have played Test cricket. Mohammed Shami has not featured in a Test for three years, while Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur have fallen out of India’s plans.
The underlying issue is structural. Zonal selectors pick the Duleep Trophy teams, while the national selectors separately oversee the India A pathway and the senior team. The system was introduced after state associations objected to national selectors bypassing domestic performers, but it has created two selection processes with different priorities.
Former selector Saba Karim believes greater involvement from national selectors could improve the quality of the Duleep Trophy selections. Central Zone selector Suhail Ansari, however, confirmed that the national selectors “have not intervened” in this year’s zonal selections.
That leaves each zone to develop its own interpretation of what the tournament should achieve.
West Zone have leaned heavily on established names, with nine of their 15 players coming from Mumbai and Maharashtra. Central have largely retained their title-winning core from last season. In South Zone, selection was reportedly influenced by the previous Ranji season and informal spots for state associations.
That can come at the expense of sustained performance. Tamil Nadu spinner R Sai Kishore, who has taken 97 wickets across the last three Ranji seasons, was omitted. So was Baba Indrajith, who averaged more than 60 during the same period and scored 401 runs at 66.20 last season.
The Duleep Trophy can still provide valuable First-Class cricket. But if its selection criteria do not consistently align with the qualities India’s national selectors are seeking, its role as a pathway becomes harder to justify.
A tournament designed to identify India’s next Test players risks becoming primarily a zonal competition, rather than a genuine audition for international cricket.
