Kolkata : Duleep Trophy, one of the oldest domestic tournament in Indian Cricket has been instrumental in grooming many talents. This year, the tournament started with 4 teams, featuring pools of Indian youngsters. However, once there used to be a foreign team consisting of overseas players in the tournament.
English legendary Batter Kevin Petersen’s tweet of him Batting in Duleep Trophy 2004 confused people of how come a foreign player feature in an Indian domestic tournament?
From 2003-2004 , Duleep Trophy featured 5 Original Zonal teams & a 6th ‘Guest Team’, which was the touring Foreign side. This format lasted until 2009-10 , after which the ‘Guest Team’ concept was removed to focus more on grooming Indian talents.
Teams from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe have played in one edition each of the Duleep Trophy, whereas England has participated twice.
Here’s the list of Top 10 Foreign Players who featured in Duleep Trophy –
(1) Kevin Petersen : Legendary English batter Kevin Pietersen played in two matches of the 2004 edition of the Duleep Trophy for England A and, with the help of two centuries, scored 345 runs. He hammered 104 and 115 in the first match against South Zone in Gurgaon and smacked 32 and 94 runs in the second match against East Zone in Amritsar.
(2) Rangana Herath : Former Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath, who finished his career with 433 wickets in 93 Tests, scored 73 runs and picked up five wickets for Sri Lanka A in the 2006 edition of the Duleep Trophy.
(3) Jonathan Trott : Former iconic English Batter Jonathan Trott scored 92 runs for the England Lions in two matches of the 2008 Duleep Trophy. He played 52 Tests, 68 ODIs, and 7 T20Is for England.
(4) Hamilton Masakadza : Hamilton Masakadza, who played in 38 Tests, 209 ODIs, and 66 T20Is for Zimbabwe during his 18-year-long international career, scored 183 runs in two matches of the 2005 Duleep Trophy for the Zimbabwe Cricket Union President’s XI.
(5) Brendan Taylor : Former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batter and captain Brendan Taylor scored 18 runs for Zimbabwe Cricket Union President’s XI in two matches of the 2005 edition of the Duleep Trophy.
(6) Thilan Samaraweera : Thilan Samaraweera was the captain of the Sri Lanka A team in the 2006 edition of the Duleep Trophy and the veteran of 81 Tests and 53 ODIs, amassed a total of 161 runs in three matches. He scored 0 and 31 runs in the final, which his side lost by 8 wickets against North Zone in Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
(7) Mohammad Ashraful : Former Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful played in two matches of the 2005 edition of the Duleep Trophy for Bangladesh Cricket Board XI and amassed a total of 92 runs.
(8) Matt Prior : Former English wicketkeeper-batter Matt Prior, featured in 79 Tests, 68 ODIs, and 10 T20Is for England, scored 194 runs for England A in the 2004 Duleep Trophy. He scored one half-century each against the South Zone and East Zone.
(9) Monty Panesar: English legendary left arm spinner Monty Panesar, who played 50 Tests, 26 ODIs, and 1 T20I for England, made two appearances for the England Lions in the 2008 edition of the Duleep Trophy & took 5 wickets.
(10) Adil Rashid: Star English spinner Adil Rashid played 2 matches for the England Lions in the 2008 edition of the Duleep Trophy and scored 112 runs in four innings in addition to dismissing six batters.
Apart from guest teams, there’re other Players who featured in Duleep Trophy teams directly, top 10 among them are –
1. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) – Played for West Zone in 1996-1997
2. Allan Border (Australia) – Played for South Zone in 1984-1985 (invitational match)
3. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies) – Played for North Zone in 1985-1986 (invitational match)
4. Richie Richardson (West Indies) – Played for East Zone in 1991-1992
5. Courtney Walsh (West Indies) – Played for North Zone in 1994-1995
6. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) – Played for East Zone in 1997-1998
7. Heath Streak (Zimbabwe) – Played for North Zone in 2000-2001
8. Nathan Astle (New Zealand) – Played for South Zone in 2001-2002
9. Chris Cairns (New Zealand) – Played for North Zone in 2002-2003
10. Upul Chandana (Sri Lanka) – Played for East Zone in 2003-2004
