No Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli in Duleep Trophy squad; Rishabh Pant makes red-ball return

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli skip domestic game to join Test squad; Rishabh Pant returns to first-class cricket.

Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer will lead the four teams that will compete in the Duleep Trophy, which will be played from September 5 to 22 in Bengaluru and Anantapur. The BCCI’s senior selection committee announced the squads on Wednesday (August 14, 2024), and the tournament will kickstart the Indian domestic season 2024-25.

Captain Rohit Sharma and veteran Virat Kohli – amid speculations about a rare domestic First Class appearance - have preferred to skip the game and will join the Test squad’s preparatory camp in Chennai ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh, starting September 19. The BCCI statement, while announcing the squads, clarified that the ones who will be picked in the Test squad will be replaced after the first round of games.

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Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant will return to first-class cricket for the first time in nearly two years since his life-threatening car crash. The wicketkeeper batter’s last red-ball game was in the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur in December 2022. Earlier this year, Pant made a sensational recovery to play in the IPL and was also part of the T20 World Cup winning squad. Pant also marked his return to the one-day international set-up in Sri Lanka.

Apart from the Test regulars and performers in last year’s Ranji Trophy, Ishan Kishan - who lost his central contract for not featuring in domestic cricket alongside Shreyas - has also been selected.

The BCCI’s media statement also mentioned that all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy’s participation is subject to his clearing the fitness test.

Team A: Shubman Gill (Capt.), 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.