The Duleep Trophy, which marks the beginning of red-ball cricket in the domestic season, will feature top Indian star players from the international circuit as well as young talents competing at the highest level. The tournament will begin on September 5, 2024, at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. On Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah stated that veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should not be forced to play in the Duleep Trophy since doing so would expose them to have a risk of injuries.

We should not insist on players like Rohit and Virat to play in the Duleep Trophy. They will risk injury. If you have noticed, in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket. We have to treat the players with respect, Shah said in a recent interaction with the media.

He also stated that other well-known players will be participating in domestic cricket in the coming days, particularly Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who lost their BCCI central contracts due to alleged lack of participation in domestic red-ball cricket. The Buchi Babu tournament, which is starting on August 16, Thursday will see the participation from Shreyas, Ishan, and Suryakumar Yadav representing their state teams.

Apart from them, everyone else is playing. You should appreciate that. One must note that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are playing in the Buchi Babu tournament, added Shah. India’s key players of red-ball cricket, including captain Rohit, Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah will not feature in the competition.