Rahul Dravid to skip ACC Emerging Trophy for Delhi Daredevils preparatory camp

Although Dravid has been at the helm of all junior national teams, the BCCI has given him permission to go ahead and join the IPL franchise.

Dravid’s absence from the emerging tournament is unlikely to cause any problem, as all the contracts handed out to the Indian support staff are set to expire on March 31.

Thus, Dravid has the right to skip the tournament, since it ends on April 5t The Delhi Daredevils are currently getting ready for a preparatory camp in the capital from March 28. With April and May being the two exclusive IPL months, all the support staff of the national side are allowed to join their respective IPL franchise.

However, this comes as a loss to the junior tournament as the timing of the IPL take away the presence of the four senior international players who were allowed to be part of the team, but now with the IPL happening none of them would be able to take part in it.

Only those players who do not have a contract with an IPL side have been selected for the tournament. With Baba Aparajith leading the side and the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Dagar, Ankush Bains and Shubham Gill in the squad, the team is not short of firepower, though. The competition was last held in 2013, with Suryakumar Yadav leading India U-23 to victory over Pakistan.