[Arjun]

I know this thread has more of a Ranji bias, but the Duleep Trophy has its fair share of advanages, and problems as well, though not its fault. The Duleep Trophy is a zonal competition, so the cream of the crop make the grade. It is best played in an off-season, so that each team has its national players. While it provides much higher quality, it gets hampered with the Indian frontline players on national duty, so the teams are very average. Worse, one welcome innovation of having two groups of three with an invitational team from abroad, was scrapped, and the tournament became a knockout. You can't build a national team from this mess.

As Cribb says, it is a good system, but the BCCI and the selectors need to take it seriously. While the BCCI's scheduling and needless Duleep restructuring has hampered the domestic season,, proven domestic performers are often ignored by selectors, and youngsters are picked after merely one season. It sends a wrong signal, as I said before, and will cause a few negative practices in the circuit.