BENGALURU: THE irony is a bit too much on the nose. At a time when the BCCI's Centre of Excellence facility, a sprawling campus a hour's drive from Bengaluru, has been facing heat, it's about to host the domestic season's traditional curtain-raiser, the Duleep Trophy, at a time when the jury is still out on the competition's red-ball pathway to the senior set-up.
However, just like the arrival of different seasons, the Duleep Trophy is an annual reminder of a new season. Another harsh summer is about to end, the lawns have been moved at the campus and Indian fans can look forward to another intriguing edition, one which promises a lot. A look at a few of those ahead of the two quarterfinals, scheduled to start on Sunday.
Sooryavanshi the red-ball batter
He may only be 15 but Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is already a present tense. He has already made his national debut for white-ball cricket. However, he remains a project player in multi-day matches. He averages 17.25 across eight first-class games but East Zone haven't just named in the squad, they have also named him Ishan Kishan Kishan's deputy in a side filled domestic stalwarts like Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Who will follow Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi
Last year, both Saransh Jain and Auqib Nabi excelled in the same competition. It acted as a launch pad as, a year later, they are both in the travelling India squad for the Sri Lanka series. Who will take their chance this season? Just looking at the four teams scheduled to play on Sunday, Arshdeep Singh should really fancy his chances ahead of a big Test series in New Zealand.
Keep an eye on the batting group
While the likes of Shubman Gill and Devdutt Padikkal will wear India whites in Sri Lanka, the next cabs of the rank, so to speak, will be in action at the CoE. R Smaran (South Zone), Sanat Sangwan (North Zone) are Ruturaj Gaikwad (West Zone) will be some of the star attractions on show while the likes of Sarfaraz Khan (West Zone) is expected to join the team once the Test series finishes in Sri Lanka (assuming they remain in the tournament).
India players
There would have been a time in the recent past when a number of players may have stayed away from the curtain-raiser. Not anymore, though. Scan your eyes through all the teams and you are likely to come across several cricketers who used to wear India colours once upon a time. Prithvi Shaw, Shardul Thakur, Gaikwad, Kishan, Sooryavanshi, Arshdeep, Mohammed Shami and Anshul Kamboj is a fair collection.
Eye on Bengaluru's weather
This time of the year one always has to keep an eye up above to see whether it's possible to have a full day's play worth of cricket. The prediction is for overcast skies and cool temperatures will some rain around throughout the day.
Today's matches: East Zone vs North East Zone, North Zone vs West Zone
9.30 AM, Star Sports Networks