No Duleep Trophy in 2017-18 season

The Duleep Trophy has been scrapped from the 2017-18 domestic calendar, which will begin with the Ranji Trophy on October 6.

The Duleep Trophy, which normally serves as the season-opener, has now been postponed to the beginning of the next season in the wake of tight international calendar which will see India hosting 23 limited-overs matches from September to December.

Confirming the news, a BCCI official said that the Duleep Trophy was conducted in a year-anda-half cycle and not necessarily on an annual basis. Last year’s Duleep Trophy featured three teams -- India Red, India Blue and India Green -- playing with the pink ball under lights.

The BCCI official said that the domestic first-class competition will continue to be played with the pink ball, before adding that it is best suited to be played at the beginning of the season instead of the middle or the end.

“If you remember, ahead of the World T20 year (in 2016), we didn’t have the Duleep Trophy because there was no relevance in holding it when we were looking at selecting a T20 side. Last year, we had a 13-Test season, so starting the Duleep Trophy before the Tests had greater relevance and we had time to do it. The Duleep Trophy takes 24 days (to finish), and with such a long season and with all venues being occupied -- obviously we can’t do it in June or July -- we had only September,” ESPNcricinfo quoted the BCCI official as saying.

THE TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT SEASON IN THE WAKE OF A TIGHT INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR