3 major takeaways from Duleep Trophy 2024 squads
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the much-awaited 2024-25 Duleep Trophy squads picked by the selection committee, led by chief selector Ajit Agarkar, on Wednesday, August 14. The tournament, starting on September 5, marks the start of India's domestic season.
The four sides - Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D will battle in three four-day games against each other until September 22. The rosters include several star players from India's senior squad, many of whom will likely be selected for the Bangladesh Tests, starting September 19.
Should that be the case, the BCCI confirmed that the players picked to represent India against Bangladesh will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy squads.
A closer look at the four teams set to play in India's prestigious red-ball competition lent itself to several key talking points and takeaways.
Below are the four Duleep Trophy squads, based on which we delve deep into the three major takeaways from them.
Team A: Shubman Gill (C), 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, and Shaswat Rawat.
Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), 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, and 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), and Sandeep Warrier.
Team D: 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), and Saurabh Kumar.
#1 The notable absentees - Why they might be missing in the Duleep Trophy squads
![Shami's return to competitive cricket remains uncertain [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/52f17-17237134381231-1920.jpg?w=500)
A quick look at the squads and it is not too hard to figure out the notable absentees among the regulars from the Indian Test side.
Starting with the obvious - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will skip the Duleep Trophy after all despite the numerous reports on them potentially playing Round One for most of last week. At 35 and 37, it was a decision possibly made in the best interest of their long-term management.
BCCI secretary Jay Shaw said in a recent interview with Times of India:
"We should not insist on players like Rohit and Virat to play in the Duleep Trophy. They will risk injury. If you have noticed, in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket. We have to treat the players with respect."
It means Kohli's last red-ball domestic game in India will remain the 2012 Ranji Trophy clash against Uttar Pradesh and Rohit's the 2016 Duleep Trophy for India Blue against India Red.
Now to the bowlers - Pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah along with spin-bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin were also missing from the Duleep Trophy squads.
Ashwin like Kohli and Rohit is getting up there at 37 and will continue his extended break before the packed Test season. Bumrah's workload management has been at the top of the management's priority list, given his injury history. Thus, it makes sense that the ace pacer isn't part of the Duleep Trophy rosters, with the possibility of him being rested for the Bangladesh series.
Bumrah's pace-bowling partner Shami was perhaps the most telling omission from the squads, considering the much-waited return from injury being at the forefront of the Indian management.
The 33-year-old has been out of action since the 2023 ODI World Cup in November with an ankle injury. While there were recent reports of Shami possibly returning for the Bangladesh Tests, his absence from the Duleep Trophy squads is probably the telltale that the recovery from injury isn't yet complete.
Finally, also worth mentioning that the exclusion of stalwarts Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane from any of the squads almost certainly signals the end of their run with the national Test side.
Yet, with a crucial Australian tour coming up at the end of the year, it remains to be seen if the duo might warrant an eleventh-hour entry due to their impressive past performances down under.
#2 Perplexing captaincy choices
![Pant was a surprise omission as captain in the Duleep Trophy squads [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/4dbf7-17237133675932-1920.jpg)
The four captains appointed for the Duleep Trophy squads raised a few eyebrows despite each being worthy candidates in their own right.
Shubman Gill was picked to captain Team A with squad boasting former Indian captain KL Rahul. While Gill has been appointed the Indian white-ball vice-captain, he has barely established himself in the Test setup.
Meanwhile, Rahul has led India in 16 matches across formats with an impressive record of 11-5, resulting in a surprise to see Gill picked over him to lead Team A.
However, Team B had the most baffling captaincy move among the four sides, with Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran picked as skipper. While Easwaran has been a legendary performer in the Indian domestic circuit, Team B included India's first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Pant has been touted as one of the prospects to lead Team India and currently captains his IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. Perhaps the rationale behind the move was not overburdening Pant with the leadership role in his return to red-ball cricket since the long injury layoff from December 2022 until the start of the 2024 IPL.
#3 Ishan Kishan's return to top-flight red-ball cricket
![Kishan will be back in action in red-ball cricket after missing the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy [Credit: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/04fc9-17237133044565-1920.jpg)
Ishan Kishan's career took a severe downward slide when he was excluded from the BCCI annual central contracts list earlier this year. The 26-year-old opted out of the South African tour at the end of 2023 and did not play the Ranji Trophy games for his state side Jharkhand, resulting in such a consequence.
His withdrawal from the South African tour due to mental fatigue was right after Kishan debuted in Tests against the West Indies in the middle of last year. Kishan's lone high-level cricket this year has been the IPL, where his performances for the Mumbai Indians were below par.
Yet, his return to top-flight red-ball cricket with the selection to Team D for the upcoming Duleep Trophy is a promising sign for Indian cricket. It remains to be seen how soon Kishan makes his way to the national side, if at all, across formats.