Duleep Trophy is ideal platform to assess bowlers: Bharath Arun

Come September 5 a lot of Indiarsquos current Test team players and those on the verge of breaking into national reckoning will be in action for the Duleep Trophy at Bengaluru and Anantapur to kickstart the 202425 domestic cricket seasonOf late the Duleep Trophy has been facing challenges in terms of its significance because of a crowded calendar The Duleep Trophy has served as a platform for the selectors to gauge if outstanding performers from the Ranji Trophy can excel in a higher standard of firstclass cricketApart from three years of not being held due to the Covid19 pandemic continuous changes to the Duleep Trophy format has affected its competitive nature It has oscillated from a fiveteam zonal event to a threeteam contest with teams named after RGB display format and even accommodating teams from Sri Lanka Zimbabwe and EnglandThe new Duleep Trophy format has four teams A B C and D competing with the top two teams reaching the final According to Bharat Arun the former India menrsquos bowling coach the revamped Duleep Trophy is the perfect opportunity to assess bowlers before India plays ten Tests till January 7 2025It provides an opportunity for all the cricketers to have enough number of overs under the belt Also itrsquos a great process to see how they fare with the red ball The selectors have picked nearly 1820 players isnrsquot it So Irsquom sure they must have zeroed in on a few of the bowlersDuleep Trophy provides you the right kind of platform for you to assess the bowlers Also the bowlers get to have enough number of overs under their belt so that itrsquos like preparation for the future Test series said Arun in an exclusive conversation with IANSAlso ReadIN PHOTOS Record Alert Badoni smashes most sixes in a T20 inningsThe Duleep Trophyrsquos format change is not the only one for the 202425 domestic season The Ranji Trophy has been divided into two phases following last yearrsquos disruptions from the winter season in the north and northeast regionsThe first phase includes five group matches while the last two group stage games and knockouts will begin after the Vijay Hazare Trophy concludes on January 18 2025 Arun a former coach of Tamil Nadu Bengal and Hyderabad in domestic cricket highlighted the positives of dividing the tournamentIt would work because you are playing more against teams that are equals rather than you pit it against someone whorsquos well below the expected standards So when yoursquore pitted against equals who are better cricketers you have to raise the standards Thatrsquos the only way to learn So itrsquos a good opportunity for all of them to up the standard when yoursquore playing again amongst equalsThe short turnaround time of just six days between the fifth league stage round of the Ranji Trophy and the beginning of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will put the playersrsquo adaptability skills to a significant test according to ArunThatrsquos the norm today even after Test matches you play the T20 series and then you go on to play the Test matches For some bowlers who can do well in all conditions it is excellent At the same time itrsquos a challenge tooIt gives you an opportunity to adapt yourself quickly become more aware of the conditions that are expected onfield and also how quickly you adapt to those conditions ndash all of that becomes a challenge So for any upcoming bowler playing different formats also kind of tries to get the best out of them because their success totally depends on how quickly they are able to adapt to different conditions he saidIn addition the coin toss has been done away with in the Under23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy The visiting team will decide whether they would bat or bowl first ldquoIn a way it could help if you look at the positive side The wickets that the home team prepares would be a lot fairer because they wouldnrsquot like to give any undue advantage So I think there would be fair wicketsldquoThis is something that we have to wait and see We havenrsquot done it before We have to wait and see how good the change is Every change comes with its own challenges There are some good aspects of the change and also some downside to the change but wersquoll have to really wait and see how it pans outrdquo added ArunThe revamped points system in the Under23 competition includes additional points for teamsrsquo batting and bowling in the first innings Arun signed off by saying this would lead to an increase in more resultoriented cricket instead of drawn affairsWith all the changes in points systems that has come out they are trying their best to see how they can make it more competitive and get more resultoriented matches Thatrsquos pretty much good for the game Sporting declarations come in and challenging the other team with the totals that seem achievable and trying to get them out this is also a challengeI feel earlier there would be a lot of teams who used to play for draw or they were playing more like packing one side and bowling negative lines All that will have to disappear Theyrsquoll have to play a lot more positive cricket to come inThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever