Predicting the first playing 11 of Team A of Duleep Trophy 2024 ft. Shubman Gill and KL Rahul
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will begin its domestic season this year with the Duleep Trophy. The tournament will commence on September 5 across two venues - Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The BCCI announced four squads for the opening rounds - Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D. Shubman Gill has been appointed as the skipper for Team A, while Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran will see over the leadership duties of Team B. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer have been appointed as captains of Team C and Team D, respectively.
The Duleep Trophy will be a selection ground for several cricketers with important Test matches lined up in the next few months. India will play two Tests against Bangladesh followed by Test red-ball games against New Zealand. They will round off the year with a tour Down Under where Rohit Sharma and company will play four Tests.
As the players look to make an impression ahead of the long Test season, we try to pick the possible playing XI of Team A for their opening game.
Openers - Shubman Gill (c) and Mayank Agarwal
Shubman Gill, who was appointed as India's vice-captain in ODIs, is yet to cement his place in the Test side. He had to leave his opener's slot to Yashasvi Jaiswal and bat at No. 3. However, the right-hander is yet to taste the desired success in his new batting position.
Gill, who will lead the side, will look to make this opportunity count and get into the groove before the Test series against Bangladesh gets underway on September 19.
Mayank Agarwal has fallen down the pecking order in India's Test side. However, he has piled up runs in the domestic circuit and will look to continue the good job in the upcoming Duleep Trophy.
Middle order - KL Rahul, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, and Dhruv Jurel (wk)
Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul has featured in only five Tests in the last two years. With plenty of options available in the middle order, Rahul has gone down in the pecking order. The right-handed batter will look to make the most of the Duleep Trophy to get back into the Test side.
Riyan Parag, who hails from Assam, is considered a generational talent. Despite being extremely talented, Parag struggled to excel in crunch matches until the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder had a life-changing IPL 2024 and has never looked back since then.
He was recently handed his ODI and T20I debuts and a couple of good performances in Duleep Trophy can see him don the India whites as well.
Shivam Dube has been India's go-to all-rounder in white-ball cricket in the absence of Hardik Pandya. He has been on and off with his performances but his ability to chip in with crucial runs and wickets holds him in high regard. Dube, who had a decent domestic season last year, will look to push his Test selection with a good Duleep Trophy campaign.
Young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has emerged as India's wicketkeeper-batter in recent times. In the absence of Rishabh Pant, who was out of action for almost 15 months due to a tragic accident, India tried KS Bharat who failed to grab the opportunity.
Jurel was quick to make a mark with his batting and wicketkeeping skills against England and will look to further strengthen his case with a good Duleep Trophy campaign.
Bowlers - Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed
Off-spinner Tanush Kotian and left-arm leg break bowler Kuldeep Yadav will likely oversee the spin unit in Team A. Kuldeep is a seasoned campaigner having tasted international success for so many years now.
However, his place in the Test side is still not certain with all-rounder Axar Patel taking the third spinners slot after Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep will look to push his case with strong performances in the Duleep Trophy.
Kotian, on the other hand, is gradually making a mark in domestic cricket. The 25-year-old, who plays for Mumbai, has already picked up 75 wickets in 26 first-class matches. Moreover, he is also a handy batter and can chip in with crucial runs in the lower order.
Akash Deep, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed will constitute the pace attack. All three have consistently featured in India A teams and will look to make a case for themselves ahead of the lengthy red-ball season.
Khaleel, in particular, will have his eyes fixed on a place in the Test side that will tour Australia later this year for a four-match series. The management is reportedly looking to add a left-arm pacer into the mix to add some variety, and Khaleel is one of the front-runners to be in the squad alongside Arshdeep Singh.