Mumbai: Less than a week after eliminating the Duleep Trophy from the 2017-18 national calendar, the Cricket Control Board in India (BCCI) was forced to change its decision and restore the tournament, which normally serves as a season opener.
The Supreme Court-appointed CoA Committee on Tuesday asked BCCI to review its decision to cancel the Duleep Trophy, as it was a “major” competition.
“We were told that Duleep Trophy was not on the schedule, but we thought it was a major commitment and should not be dropped, so we asked them to restore it, and it has been restored,” said ESPNcricinfo CoA President Vinod Rai said.
According to a BCCI official, the CoA previously asked the BCCI technical committee, led by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, to reveal the details of why the tournament was originally scrapped.
However, Rai rejected that the CoA had sought something from the technical committee of the country’s cricket governing body.
Earlier, the Duleep Trophy was postponed at the start of next season after the tight international schedule that will see India receive 23 limited games from September to December.
Last year, the Duleep Trophy featured three teams: India Red, India Blue, and India Green, playing with the pink ball under lights.
As India is scheduled to play limited-overs series against Australia on September 17, the window for the Duleep Trophy is expected to be smaller than last year.
