Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 14 (ANI): Star India batters Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and many more players are set to feature in the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 season.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced the squads for the first round of the tournament.
The Duleep Trophy, which marks the beginning of red-ball cricket in the domestic season, will feature top India stars from the international circuit and emerging talents competing at the highest level.
The tournament is set to begin on September 5, 2024, in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
India’s key players of red-ball cricket, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah, will not feature in the competition.
Notably, pacer Prasidh Krishna will make his comeback after serving a lengthy period on the sidelines due to injury. Since 2019, Krishan’s career has been plagued by injuries. He sustained a stress fracture on his left leg in 2019, a stress fracture of the back in 2022, and a quadriceps injury in 2024.
Young batter Tilak Varma has also been included in the tournament. He suffered a wrist injury towards the end of Indian Premier League 2024.
Youngster Musheer Khan, who starred for India in the Under-19 World Cup, has been rewarded for his consistency. The 19-year-old all-rounder enjoyed a breakout season after lifting the Ranji Trophy with Mumbai earlier this year. Musheer will look to make his mark after being included in the Duleep Trophy.
Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been included in the first round of the tournament, but his participation remains subject to fitness.
Players who will be selected to represent India for the home Test series against Bangladesh will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy. India will kick off the Test series against Bangladesh on September 19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
The four squads for the first round of the tournament:
Team A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.
Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).
Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), 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.
Team D: Shreyas lyer (C), 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. (ANI)
