Report | Rohit, Virat, Bumrah, and Ashwin to sit out revamped Duleep Trophy
According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, four Test veterans namely Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah will not be available for the domestic season curtain-raiser. However, most other international hopefuls are likely to feature with a busy Test season awaiting.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli recently featured for India in the ODI series in Sri Lanka whereas Jasprit Bumrah last donned the blue during the triumphant ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. Ravichandran Ashwin, meanwhile, plied his trade in the Indian Premier League and Tamil Nadu Premier League, his last appearance for India having come in the five-match Test series at home against England at the start of the year. The quartet's rest comes with the expectations of them playing a key role in the ten Tests over the next few months, beginning with a two-Test home series against Bangladesh on September 19 followed by three Tests at home against New Zealand and five Tests in Australia.
Meanwhile, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shubman Gill are all set to participate in the revamped Duuleep Trophy that is set to get underway on September 5 and will feature four teams whose squads will be picked by the national selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar. Traditionally a regional tournament featuring four to six teams, the competition's format has been revamped for the upcoming season to allow the incumbent Test players and those on the fringe to prove themselves or build match fitness against high-quality opposition.
India has several questions to answer heading into the Test season, the most prominent of which will be how to re-introduce Rishabh Pant back into the side after an extended injury layoff. In his absence, KL Rahul had taken over the role of wicket-keeper batter and impressed with a century in unprecedentedly poor conditions in South Africa before getting ruled out of the England series after the first game. Dhruv Jurel thus is the incumbent keeper, the youngster himself putting on a strong show, and is expected to make the Indian squad as of now.
Another point of interest shall be the performance of the pacers and whether Mohammed Shami is back from his ankle injury. The speedster is currently undergoing the final stages of rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy with hopes of getting his workload back up to feature in the Duleep Trophy. The Men in Blue handed caps to Prasidh Krishna in South Africa and Akash Deep against England but the third-pacer slot remains for the taking if Shami is unable to make a timely return.
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