Dolphins pull out of Duleep Trophy

The Dolphins have decided to pull out of the Duleep Trophy, India's first-class zonal tournament, as the dates of their tour will be too close to the beginning of the South African domestic season.

"The timing of the matches don't suit the South African fixture list, so the Dolphins will not be going to India," Logan Naidoo, the president of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union, told SuperCricket.

The tournament scheduled to begin early October, will now be played from October 19 to November 18. The teams are divided into two groups, and the Dolphins were to play four-day matches against five zonal teams.

"There's been constant contact with India, and we were trying to accommodate the matches towards the end of the tournament so it wouldn't affect too many of the Dolphins fixtures in South Africa. But that was to no avail and we had to make this decision, which was a pity."

The Indian board had invited Cricket South Africa to send a team to play the Duleep Trophy for the next three years. Though it was decided that the winner of the SuperSport series, South Africa's first-class competition, would take part in the tournament, last year's finals was a draw between the Titans and the Dolphins. The Titans were expected to be the chosen team but the board, after a meeting in May, decided it would send the Dolphins instead.