India’s captain Rohit Sharma, along with Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah, will not participate in the Duleep Trophy, which kicks off the domestic cricket season on September 5, as per a report by ESPNcricinfo.
The teams for the tournament will be selected later this month by the panel led by Ajit Agarkar. However, most of the other centrally contracted players are expected to participate in the four-team competition.
Among the players who will draw significant attention are KL Rahul, who missed four of the five Tests against England earlier this year due to injury, and Rishabh Pant, who might be playing his first red-ball match since fully recovering from a car accident in December 2022.
Other specialist batters likely to be selected across the four teams include Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rajat Patidar. Additionally, there is a chance that Mohammed Shami, who is nearing full fitness, will be asked to participate in one of the matches to demonstrate his match readiness.
Shami is currently in the final stages of rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru and has gradually increased his bowling workload over the past week.
India’s cricket schedule for the next five months includes 10 Tests, five at home and five in Australia. To prepare for this busy period, senior players will receive an extended break before the two-Test series against Bangladesh, which begins in Chennai on September 19.
Due to logistical reasons, one of the two Duleep Trophy matches scheduled to start on September 5 may be moved from Anantapur to Bengaluru. The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been informally approached about hosting the game.
This adjustment aligns with the BCCI’s recent efforts to prioritize domestic cricket. In February, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah warned that prioritizing the IPL over domestic matches could lead to a stance that resulted in Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan losing their central contracts after missing some Ranji Trophy games before the IPL.
Originally a zonal competition selected by a convener from each zone (North, South, East, West, Central, and North-East), the Duleep Trophy format was revised this season based on recommendations from a BCCI working group, including former head coach Rahul Dravid, NCA chief VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar, and BCCI general manager Abey Kuruvilla.
The revised format aims to provide a wider pool of players with ample opportunities as India heads into a busy Test season. The four-team tournament will run until September 22, with each team playing the other three in a round-robin format. The team at the top of the standings at the end of the round-robin phase will be declared the winner.