Zimbabwe invited to Indian domestic competitions

Posted by brmtaylor.com admin on January 24, 2009

Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket had been in Bangladesh recently to watch the ongoing cricket series. It has been revealed that he made a stop to India to meet with the president and secretary of the BCCI.

Details of the meeting released by Cricinfo show that the BCCI has agreed to invite a Zimbabwean side to play in two of its domestic competitions, the Deodhar Trophy and the Duleep Trophy.

Both are inter-zonal competitions that are typically quite short, usually involving only a handful of matches, although this might increase slightly with the addition of a Zimbabwe side. The Deodhar Trophy is a one-day tournament, while the Duleep Trophy is a popular First Class competition.

Zimbabwe will play in this season Deodhar Trophy which is expected to begin in March while their inclusion in the Duleep Trophy will not come until next year, as this seasons Duleep Trophy is already underway.

This development is very important for Zimbabwean cricket, whose players need as much exposure to quality cricket as possible. The Zimbabwean national team will be embarking on a tour of Sri Lanka involving a 4-day match and 5 ODI's during February and March. With the Deodhar Trophy expected to begin in mid-March, it remains to be seen which players will represent the Zimbabwe Presidents XI in the Indian tournament. In all likelihood, the team will resemble the Zimbabwe Provinces team which played in South Africa's domestic competitions in 2007-08.

The Zimbabwean players will also have access to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. They will also be invited to the Buchi Babu invitational tournament in Tamil Nadu, a competition which has had teams such as New Zealand A invited to it in past years.