Indian players skip Duleep Trophy for Champions League

The last couple of years have been forgettable for the test team. They were stripped of their No.1 rank in Tests by the English as they were beaten down and out. This was followed by the hammering meted out by the Aussies, Down Under. In between, we managed to win a couple of Tests against the weak West Indies side and recently, we thrashed the hapless Kiwis in a home series. We have two important home series lined up later this year. We have the English team touring India, followed by the Aussies, early next year. Both of these series can rightly be called revenge series.

The Duleep Trophy provided an idle platform for the young Indian team to get into some Test playing rhythm. Already our batting has been weakened after the sudden retirement of Dravid and Laxman. I agree that we played really well against the Kiwis, but the English and Aussies are a much better team than the Kiwis. Ideally, the key Test players should have skipped the Champions League T20 to get match fit by featuring in the domestic matches currently underway. Though we are playing at home, we can never take any opposition lightly – especially if they have been your nemesis in the past. Sehwag and Gambhir are going through a lean patch; it is an ominous sign for the Indians for they rely heavily on good starts – a couple of practice matches could have done their confidence a lot of good.

They say in cricket, that it takes one innings to get back in form. I was surprised even to see even great Sachin give it a miss. Having performed much below his expectations and getting bowled in each of the innings he featured against the Kiwis, I thought Sachin would be really pumped to get some practice before the all important series and to make amends, although he will be featuring in Ranji matches. In fact, most of the Indian players would be featuring in the Ranji trophy as it begins after the coveted Champions League.

I cannot decipher the logic behind players giving Duleep Trophy a miss for a T20 tournament. If I am not wrong, we are scheduled to play England and Australia in Test series and not a T20 series. We were just back from a T20 World Cup and so another T20 tournament was absolutely unnecessary. It was time to switch to Test match mode and thankfully, we had Duleep Trophy. Moreover, if we had a Test series scheduled at home, playing on bouncy pitches of South Africa would never have helped. Adding to that, our IPL teams performed miserably. This definitely has not done their confidence any world of good.

What if one of our key players had picked up injury while playing for their franchise in the CLT20? It would have been disastrous to say the least. It would not have been the first time as we had lost Sehwag owing to injury just before the series against England. He was followed by our premier fast bowler, Zaheer Khan last time around. Most of us would put the blame on BCCI, but I really doubt if our players would have opted to play in the Duleep Trophy if we did not have CLT20 scheduled at this time.

How often have we seen our players feature in domestic matches during off season? I understand if you are a Dravid or a Tendulkar, you can have the luxury of giving domestic matches a miss. But for the current team which comprises of young Indian players, giving domestic series a miss that too before such an important series is simply suicidal. The BCCI has to ensure that we do not face such situations in future.

Fortunately, it is not too late as our players will get to play at least a Test match before they face the English. Hopefully, Sehwag and Gambhir regain their touch and Sachin gets back his reflexes which have let him down lately. This will ensure our victory and indeed would be a sweet revenge for the Indian team and the billion fans.