The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wrote to the state associations following centrally contracted players were not named for the Duleep Trophy 2025-27 opener. Returning to the zonal system, the teams were not selected by national selectors but by zonal selectors. BCCI cricket operations general manager Abey Kuruvilla sent an email to all associations, but he wrote mostly to the South Zone because they left out none of KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan, and Mohammed Siraj. They are all members of India's Test team and are on a break for a month. Additionally, none of them have been named in the Asia Cup 2025 squad. Here is what Kuruvilla wrote, according to The Indian Express: “To uphold its prestige and ensure the highest quality of competition, it’s imperative that all currently available India players are selected for their respective zonal teams. Requesting the Zonal Convenors to ensure that all the current India players who are available to play the Duleep Trophy should be picked,” Read also: Why was Shreyas Iyer not selected in 2025 Asia Cup squad? Reports reveals shocking claims In the previous year, the BCCI had made it compulsory for centrally contracted players to take part in the domestic competitions. The stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma even featured in the Ranji Trophy despite the mandate. Having that context in mind, Kuruvilla directed the players to comply with the regulations. “Participation in domestic matches: All players contracted or otherwise who make themselves available for selection into Team India shall participate in domestic matches conducted by BCCI. In case any player opts not to participate in any domestic cricket tournaments in spite of availability, he/she shall not be considered for selection unless a prior recommendation is obtained to skip the match/tournament form the national coach and the chairman of the selection committee, and prior approval from the BCCI. In case of any leave is granted, the same shall be considered on the basis of some valid and cogent reason,” Kuruvilla added. South Zone was the first to declare their Duleep Trophy team and has appointed Tilak Varma as the captain. The BCCI had no issue with that but desired Rahul, Sundar, Krishna, Sudharsan, and Siraj to feature. A few more players such as Test skipper Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, and Shreyas Iyer will also play for the Duleep Trophy. Of course, BCCI would like the South Zone to have contracted players in the squad. But till now, it is not known if that will happen or not.