"When You Want To Judge...": Ex-India Star On Big Names In Duleep Trophy

The ongoing Duleep Trophy campaign has seen some of the biggest cricketing stars of the country participate in the season-opening Duleep Trophy. One of the biggest reasons behind this was the pressure put by the Board of Central Cricket of India (BCCI). In an exclusive conversation with IANS, former India cricketer Vijay Dahiya lauded the players for playing the Duleep Trophy. “Domestic tournaments are absolutely important for the game. I can understand when players are playing a heavy schedule and they opt to sit out but this year's Duleep Trophy was a season opener. When you want to judge a youngster coming into the side the value of the runs is higher if it's against strong bowlers. I am happy to see the amount of talent that are playing in this year's Duleep trophy,” Vijay Dahiya told IANS.

Dahiya is currently in the capital serving his tenure as the head coach of the Purani Dilli-6 in the inaugural season of the Adani Delhi Premier League. His side roared to third place in the points table despite not getting off the best starts in the tournament. The team lost against South Delhi Superstarz, their semifinal opponent, in the season-opener but the head coach believes all the previous form goes out of the window as it is a knockout game.

“Confidence is absolutely important especially when you are making a comeback. You have to realise that it is a very fast-paced tournament and you will lose games but what's important is how many you end up winning. Confidence is not important just when you're losing, it is also important when you're winning. The support staff tried to build an environment to raise confidence where they can perform to their level best,” he added.

“I don't think so, the main purpose of the tournament