So the first match of the Duleep trophy ended with India Red led by Yuvraj Singh beating Suresh Raina’s India Green by 219 runs. The margin of victory is huge, but the match will go down in history as the debut of the pink ball with day-night playing hours in the Duleep trophy.

Just as the cricket ball has changed colour from red to pink, the tournament too has gone through change – several times – since its inception. The tournament returned to the domestic circuit this season after a one-year gap.

The history

The Duleep Trophy began as a knockout affair in 1961-62 between the five zonal teams. As the tournament progressed, it was seen as a platform for selectors to pick national players. The zones were divided into North, South, East, West and Central, and the tournament moved from a knock-out to a league system in 1993-94.

However, in the 2002-03 season, the zones were replaced with five teams named Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B, each of which was constituted by selectors. But this, too, failed to take off, and was scrapped within a year.

In the 2003-04 season, the BCCI went back to the zonal team format but added an international touring team as the sixth opponent. After five seasons of this, it became a five- team knockout tournament once again.

Then, in 2015-16, the Duleep Trophy was scrapped altogether because it was overlapping with the World Cup T20 in March. So, the BCCI scheduled it at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

The new format

Now, a simpler format has just three teams playing against one another once, with the top two entering the final. As cricket fans will recognise, this is essentially the Challenger Trophy by another name, in which three teams used to play a round-robin format. Even the team names are the same – India Blue, India red, and India Green (which were the new names for India Seniors, India A and India B).

Former Indian cricketer Madan Lal told Scroll.in, “I don’t know the exact reason they have changed the Duleep trophy format but they have been concentrating too much on international cricket. They should give more attention on the domestic circuit. They aren’t giving one of India’s premiere tournaments any importance now."

Lal's contention is that international cricket can survive only if talented youngsters keep coming into the game, which means not ignoring domestic tournaments such as the Duleep Trophy. He added, “It should be played according to the original format between all the zones. A player must perform in the Ranji Trophy and then the Duleep Trophy before playing for India."

In its prime, the Duleep Trophy was the test every player had to pass to make it to the Test squad, whether to earn his cap or to stage a comeback. Has it lost its relevance now?

Former cricketer Maninder Singh told Scroll.in, “I don’t think the tournament is irrelevant. You can get new kids as well. For example, Kuldeep Yadav has been spoken about for a long time. The relevance is very much there because they have made these three teams out of the best talent we have in our country. It's still competitive.

The Pink effect

The business with the pink ball began owing to the dwindling number of people coming to watch Test cricket. The white and red balls have failed to charm spectators in the longer format, putting a question mark over its longevity. So one was out is apparently, the day-night game. And so, the pink balk.

Said Singh, “If we are going to play day-night Tests the pink ball shouldn’t be a problem. We should try it at the domestic level as well, so that the kids have the experience by the time they get to the international level.”

The experiment was first tried by Australia, who took on New Zealand in a day-night Test in Adelaide in 2015 with the Australians winning the game. The pink ball garnered mixed reviews, but on the whole the day-night format looked like a way to save the future of Test cricket.

Now, Pakistan is going to play the West Indies in its first pink ball Test from October 13 to 17 in Dubai. However, India is approaching it with caution. For now, it has shelved plans of playing a day-night Test against New Zealand when they tour India next month.

Playing the Duleep trophy with the pink ball will enable the BCCI to judge the reactions from senior players such as Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, and Dinesh Karthik, among others.

But it looks like an idea that cannot be kept away too long if Test cricket has to remain in the, well, pink of health.