The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the 2024 Duleep Trophy, which is set to begin on September 5. Notably, the much-anticipated return of star players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has not materialised, as both have been omitted from the squads. This decision has sparked conversation among fans and analysts, especially considering the buzz surrounding their possible participation.
In a departure from the traditional zonal format that typically involves six regions, this year's Duleep Trophy will feature four teams: India A, India B, India C, and India D. This new structure aims to foster competitiveness and give a platform for both emerging talent and seasoned players to showcase their skills ahead of pivotal international engagements.
Here’s a look at the squads for the first round of the tournament:
Team A Squad:
- 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 Squad:
- Abhimanyu Easwaran (C)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Rishabh Pant
- Musheer Khan
- Nitish Kumar Reddy*
- Washington Sundar
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Mohammed Siraj
- Yash Dayal
- Mukesh Kumar
- Rahul Chahar
- R Sai Kishore
- Mohit Awasthi
- N Jagadeesan (WK)
Team C Squad:
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (C)
- Sai Sudharsan
- Rajat Patidar
- Abishek Porel (WK)
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Baba Indrajith
- Hrithik Shokeen
- Manav Suthar
- Umran Malik
- Vyshak Vijaykumar
- Anshul Khamboj
- Himanshu Chauhan
- Mayank Markande
- Aryan Juyal (WK)
- Sandeep Warrier
Team D Squad:
- Shreyas Iyer (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
The inclusion of promising young players alongside established names sets the stage for intense competition in the Duleep Trophy, and it will be interesting to see which players make the most of this opportunity to impress national selectors.