Mumbai: Since his India debut, Virat Kohli has featured in only two domestic first-class matches, Rohit Sharma three. Even Shubman Gill has played only four. Indian’s globe-trotting cricketers play, or have room to play, so little first-class cricket that it’s news when they do. Many of India’s leading stars will turn up for the Duleep Trophy opener in Bengaluru on September 5.

Although Kohli and Rohit are yet to confirm participation and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah won’t exert himself on the domestic lane, shifting the venue from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh to the M Chinnaswamy stadium for the tournament-opener is respecting the stature of the strengthened playing pool.

MANY TWEAKS

Pre-IPL, when the calendar was less congested, the selectors used Duleep Trophy as a filter to check if Ranji Trophy’s stand-out performers could withstand pressure in a higher grade of cricket. Continuous tweaks to the Duleep format – it was discontinued for three years during Covid – have impacted its competitiveness. From being a five-team zonal event to a three-team competition with colour-coded team names – it even accommodated teams from Sri Lanka, England and Zimbabwe in the 2000s – the tournament’s true value has seldom been realised. Later, the India A series became a more reliable barometer for selectors as reciprocal programmes with other Test-playing countries took shape.

The current window that allows the big guns to play is rare and a welcome change. India are scheduled to play ten Tests at a stretch in four months and have a rare month-long break from international action preceding that. The selectors can use this opportunity to strengthen the domestic base and give the established players a chance to iron out flaws that may have crept into their game. India’s batting struggles against spin showed up in the just-concluded ODI series in Sri Lanka. VVS Laxman rediscovering form with stellar domestic showings before his second international coming may be a story of the past, but one that hasn’t lost relevance.

For the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, it would provide a chance to re-ascertain their all-format credentials. For Axar Patel, an opportunity to challenge Ravindra Jadeja in the longer format too. For Sarfaraz Khan, to push his case for a regular playing eleven in the Test side. For a young Tilak Varma, to show he is equally adept at handling the red ball. For Rajat Patidar, to prove that his low scores against England on Test debut were nothing but a false start and that he deserves another run at the elite level.

“There will certainly be enough players that are likely to play that first game (Sept 5-9) at least because that’s the only game that they can,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said last month. “It’s always nice just for the competition as well. If all your top players come and play, it’s not always easy with such a packed long season. So, it’s sometimes tough for the players, if they have a week off somewhere, to make them do that. But we’ll try and see what we can do.”

The corrective measures were taken under former head coach Rahul Dravid’s watch with the restructuring of the domestic calendar; 50-over Deodhar Trophy being taken off the charts and the Duleep Trophy shortened from a six-team to four-team event helped create the window.

CHANCE TO REBOOT

Now that the zonal system has been done away with, BCCI, if it wants, can rebrand Duleep Trophy team names with a more modern touch, or even go back in time, rather than calling them Team A, B, C, D. More importantly, if the expanded playing pool in the Duleep Trophy was to become a regular feature and the tournament was marketed better, it would make domestic cricket more worthwhile for all concerned, including the broadcasters.

Rebooting a four-team domestic competition of select players and high quality is achievable even in this white-ball era than trying to radically transform the two-month, 38-team Ranji Trophy.