Duleep Trophy a big platform to prove your point, says Parthiv Patel

The Duleep Trophy suffered a miraculous fate this year as it was stroked out of the BCCI’s schedule only to be brought back again. The BCCI initially released its schedule for the 2017-18 domestic schedule which did not feature the Duleep Trophy. But owing to a letter from Sourav Ganguly the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators initiated the inclusion of the tournament once again.

The main story:

The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Thursday with the India Reds ready to face the India Green at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium. The stadium will also host its inaugural first-class match with the tournament starter today. India Green skipper Parthiv Patel spoke about the tournament ahead of the big match.

“It’s a big opportunity for everyone to make a mark,” said Parthiv. “I don’t agree with the loyalty issue. Everyone is gunning for a place in the India team and everyone will be looking to give his best performance,” added Patel who revealed the spinner Parvez Rasool would not feature in the match.

Indian international Dinesh Karthik, who will act as the stand in captain for the India Reds, stated that the selectors will keep a close eye on the season opener and an effective performance will surely grab eyeballs. It’s the beginning of the season and everyone would try to give his 100 percent.” he said.

Skipper Abhinav Mukund has been replaced by Prithvi Shaw as he is suffering from dengue, whereas speedster Varun Aron makes it to the side as a replacement for Dhawal Kulkarni.

Suresh Raina will be leading the India Blue bunch, would begin their campaign against India Red at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on September 13. Raina has a lot to prove in this tournament as he has his eyes set on a national team comeback. India Blue will take on India Red in the last group game on September 19th.

Squads:

India Green: Murali Vijay, Ravikumar Samarth, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Ankit Bawne, Parthiv Patel (c), Shahbaz Nadeem, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Siddarth Kaul, Mayank Dagar, Nitin Saini, Aniket Choudhary.

India Red: Priyank Panchal, Sudip Chatterjee, Ishank Jaggi, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (c), Rishabh Pant, Baba Indrajith, Krishnappa Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Basil Thampi, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Chama Milind and Prithvi Shaw.