As the red-ball competition returns to its usual zonal structure in Bengaluru on Thursday, the underdog and ambitious group will try to dominate the prestigious Duleep Trophy stage. The day marks the start of the domestic cricket season in India.
The competition, which was first held in the 1960s, will feature six zonal teams.
When the event was contested between the randomly selected India A, B, C, and D teams last season, the stakeholders were not satisfied, and the old structure was naturally reinstated.
The BCCI’s requirement that its top players participate in domestic competitions if they are not injured or on national duty has given the tournament, which previously generated little attention, new life.
The West Zone team, which also includes Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, will be captained by Shardul Thakur, a member of India’s Test team in England.
Iyer will want to score a ton of runs after losing his spot in the Indian red-ball squad. The same is true for Sarfaraz, who was overlooked for the most recent England tour.
Iyer, whose removal has generated conflicting sentiments, will find extra motivation from not getting selected for the Asia Cup T20.
Despite having no fault of his own, Jaiswal was also left off the Asia Cup squad. India has benefited much from his red-ball exploits both domestically and abroad, and he would like to start the season by scoring a lot of runs in the middle.
R Sai Kishore, who missed the Buchi Babu competition because of a hand injury, will be the focus of the south zone squad, which is captained by Tilak Varma. Sai Sudharsan and KL Rahul, for example, will not compete in the tournament.
Devdutt Padikkal will make his injury comeback, and strong showings might put him back in the national reckoning. After the Australia tour, he lost his spot after making his debut against England the previous year.
In lieu of an injured Ishan Kishan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, who warmed the bench during the whole England tour, will lead East Zone.
After suffering through his time on the sidelines in the UK, it seems sense that Easwaran would be eager to get in the middle and pile on the runs.
Easwaran has been a member of the Indian team on several occasions, but he has yet to make his debut. His only option is to keep scoring runs, just like he has in domestic cricket.
Mohammed Shami lost his spot in the Test team because of persistent injury worries, and his red ball fitness will be evaluated in the bowling department.
The 34-year-old last participated in a Test match in 2023 and was not included in the trips of Australia and England. Only extended stretches and a large number of wickets will compel the selectors to notice the talented player, who appears to be past his prime.
Shubman Gill was chosen to captain North Zone, but he is ill and won’t be able to play in the first game. In Gill’s absence, the team is anticipated to be led by vice-captain Ankit Kumar.
There would have been much more excitement in the Duleep Trophy if India’s new Test captain had been present, but he is currently unavailable.
Before joining the UAE-bound T20 squad, pacers Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, who are also in the Asia Cup squad, may only play in the first match.
Anshul Kamboj was able to make his debut despite being a late addition to the team, whereas Arshdeep missed all five Test matches in England.
The left-arm pacer needs to do well in domestic red-ball competitions if he is to fulfill his desire to play Test cricket.
Rana has good incentive to exert himself in his first game for North Zone, as he has fallen off the national selectors’ radar in the longest format.
The Central Zone team’s two standout players are Rajat Patidar and Dhruv Jurel. While Patidar will be trying to regain his spot in the national team after losing it during a terrible home series against England last year, Jurel’s leadership abilities will be evaluated during the event.
Taking on the game’s great players would be a huge test for the North-East zone group, and a strong showing in this situation would draw notice right away.
Squads:
South Zone: Tilak Varma, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar
East Zone: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami
West Zone: Shardul Thakur, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wicketkeeper), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala
North Zone: Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sandhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan
Central Zone: Dhruv Jurel, Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Kuldeep Yadav, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed
North-East: Jonathan Rongsen, Akash Kumar Choudhary, Techi Doria, Yumnum Karnajit, Sedezhalie Rupero, Ashish Thapa, Hem Bahadur Chetri, Jehu Anderson, Arpit Subash Bhatewara, Pheroijam Jotin Singh, Palzor Tamang, Ankur Malik, Bishworjit Singh Konthoujam, Aryan Borah, Lamabam Ajay Singh
Schedule:
August 28-31:
Quarter-final 1: North Zone vs East Zone, BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru
Quarter-final 2: Central Zone vs North East Zone, BCCI COE Ground 2, Bengaluru
September 4-7:
Semi-final 1: South Zone vs Winner QF1, BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru
Semi-final 2: North Zone vs Winner QF2, BCCI COE Ground 2, Bengaluru
September 11-15:
Final: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2, BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru
