New Delhi, Sep 6 : 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 was to reach the top four and we have done that. We're in the knockout stage and it's a knockout game for them as well. They have two batters who have been batting exceptionally well so we need to counter them. Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya are the main pillars of their team so we need to get them out early,' said Dahiya.

The Adani Delhi Premier League (DPL) Season One has been a major success. It has provided youngsters with a great platform to impress on a televised platform which is highly beneficial.

'It has been fantastic. The DPL is a brilliant concept and I think as far as white ball cricket is concerned there are so many players who were waiting for something like this as it provides more opportunity to around 200 players. Credit must be given to Rohan Jaitley (President DDCA) for the way it has been organized, I think the tournament is going to go up from here and fans will be waiting for the second edition,' concluded Dahiya.

/IANS