The Hindu : Duleep Trophy may revert to old format

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 02, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Duleep Trophy may revert to old format

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE Sept. 1. Reverting the Duleep Trophy to its old Zonal format is a key recommendation that the BCCI Technical Committee arrived at during the course of its meeting at the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises here on Monday.

"Captains felt that there was no sense of identity within the sides,'' said Technical Committee chairman Sunil Gavaskar while informing the media about the proposed recommendations that will be tabled during the Board's Annual General Body meeting at Kolkata later this month.

It may be recalled that in the Duleep Trophy tournament last season, the five teams had labels ranging from `Elite A' to `Plate B' and players were selected on the basis of their performance in the Ranji Trophy Elite and Plate Division matches.

The Duleep Trophy teams were jumbled with players from different Zones donning the same team colours and the matches missed that old spark which was often evident in the earlier clashes between the Zonal squads. The Technical Committee's recommendation is aimed at reviving the competitive fervour of the Duleep Trophy tournament.

A foreign flavour will also reign high in the Duleep Trophy if the Technical Committee's other recommendations find favour with the Board. "There will be one foreign team along with the five Zonal sides. Bangladesh or Kenya or may be the champion first class side from either Australia or England will be invited. But preferably it will be Bangladesh or Kenya as these two teams are not exposed to four-day or five-day first class matches,'' said Gavaskar.

In the proposed Duleep Trophy format, the six teams including the foreign team will be split into two groups and the top team from both the groups will clash in the final that will be played over five days. The league fixtures will consist of four-day matches.

The Technical Committee also mooted the idea of covering pitches for the Duleep Trophy matches. "Last season the pitches were not covered on an experimental basis but there was nothing positive about it,'' said Gavaskar. The chairman also added that in the forthcoming season, the grass will be mowed on alternate days during the Duleep Trophy and Under-19 tournaments. The move is aimed at lending variety to the playing conditions.

The BCCI secretary, S.K. Nair mentioned that the Committee met to deliberate upon appropriate playing conditions for the home series against New Zealand and the Tri-Series One-dayers. The Board secretary stressed that the playing conditions will remain the same as before.

The Committee will also recommend switching on the lights at 4.30 p.m. during the forthcoming day and night One Day Internationals featuring India, New Zealand and Australia. Another proposal pending BCCI approval is the advancement of the start of the one-dayer between Australia and New Zealand at Guwahati on November 9 to 8.30 a.m. as the light often failed later in the evening.

Gavaskar also reiterated that the points format in the Ranji Trophy will remain the same. The existing points format awards two for outright victory, a bonus point for a victory by an innings or by ten wickets, a lone point for gaining first innings lead and no point for either conceding the lead or losing the match.

The Technical Committee will also stress on the need to not award any point for the losing side in ICC One Day International tournaments featuring three teams or more. Gavaskar reiterated that losing sides should not gain a point and should infact be awarded minus points in the event of the team conceding a bonus point to the rival team.

The Committee's resolution will be raised at the ICC committee meeting at Mumbai on September 17 and 18.

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