Duleep Trophy 2024-25.
Duleep Trophy 2024-25. Image Credit: X

The news 2024 season of the Duleep Trophy is going to start on September 05, with the first round of games expected to be played in Anantapur and M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This is expected to be the best preparation for the players who are going to be part of the upcoming five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

India’s wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who featured in a red-ball back nearly two years ago and missed the lion’s share of the year 2023 due to the injury of the fatal and unfortunate car accident, has marked his return in the longest format with the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy.

The Ajit-Agarkar selection committee has picked four squads for the first round of the tournament. Even though their premier pacer, Mohammad Shami, who hasn’t played any game since the final of the ODI World Cup in November last year, is yet to be part of the Duleep Trophy, as he eyes to make a comeback in the two-Tests against Bangladesh.

Senior Indian players feature in the first round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25

India’s opening batter, Shubman Gill, is going to lead the likes of Prasidh Krishna, who sets to make a comeback in the game after a lengthy layoff, while KL Rahul is expected to be the wicket-keeper of the squad after missing the series against England at home apparat from the game in Hyderabad.

Also Read: Tushar Deshpande To Replace Chetan Sakariya In West Zone team For Duleep Trophy 2023

Bengal’s dynamic batter, Abhimanyu Easwaran, is going to lead the team where the spin attack will consist of left-arm bowler Ravindra Jadeja and the off-spin of Washington Sundar. Mohammad Siraj is also going to be part of the team, along with Rishabh Pant doing the glovework.

India C will see the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, being part of the side. The expressive pacer of the country at the moment, Umrah Malik returns in the longest format of the game, along with Rajat Patidar and KS Bharat, both of whom were dropped from the playing eleven during the home England series.

Musheer Khan, the all-rounder of Mumbai, had a breakout season during the side’s victorious campaign in the Ranji Trophy campaign. and now has been rewarded for his top-notch form in the game. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been added subject to fitness after he was ruled out of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe due to the sports hernia surgery in June.

Ruturaj Gaikwad will be the captain of the ‘C’ side. The surprising exclusions from the four squads have been the all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who perhaps is recovering from his injury, while Rink Singh, despite having an average of nearly 55, hasn’t got a place among the 60 players.

Duleep Trophy 2024-25 Squads for first round

India A: Shubman Gill (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy (subject to fitness), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk)

Also Read: Here’s Why Ishan Kishan Reportedly Backed Out Of Playing For East Zone In The Upcoming Duleep Trophy 2023

India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier

India D: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar