Duleep Trophy 2025: Jurel, Gill, Thakur & Kishan Named Captains for Zonal Squads

Dhruv Jurel is set to lead the Central Zone team in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025. The prestigious tournament will be held in Bengaluru at the BCCI's new Centre of Excellence, commencing on August 28.

Jurel has been the stand-in for Rishabh Pant in India's Test squad © Getty

The Central Zone squad boasts a strong lineup, with Rajat Patidar named as Jurel's deputy, contingent upon his fitness clearance.

Central Zone Squad:

• Dhruv Jurel (c, wk)
• Rajat Patidar (vc - subject to fitness clearance)
• Aryan Juyal
• Danesh Malewar
• Sanjeet Desai
• Kuldeep Yadav
• Aditya Thakre
• Deepak Chahar
• Saransh Jain
• Ayush Pandey
• Shubham Sharma
• Yash Rathod
• Harsh Dubey
• Manav Suthar
• Khaleel Ahmed

Standby Players: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav

Shubman Gill to Captain North Zone

Shubman Gill, India's Test player, will captain the North Zone team. The squad includes potential India team members, keeping in mind the Asia Cup which is scheduled around the same period as the Duleep Trophy.

The selection committee has made provisions for potential player replacements should any players be selected for the Indian team during the series coinciding with the Duleep Trophy.

North Zone Squad:

• Shubman Gill (Captain, Punjab)
• Shubham Khajuria (J&K)
• Ankit Kumar (Vice-Captain, Haryana)
• Ayush Badoni (Delhi)
• Yash Dhull (Delhi)
• Ankit Kalsi (Himachal Pradesh)
• Nishant Sandhu (Haryana)
• Sahil Lotra (J&K)
• Mayank Dagar (Himachal Pradesh)
• Yudhvir Singh Charak (J&K)
• Arshdeep Singh (Punjab)
• Harshit Rana (Delhi)
• Anshul Kamboj (Haryana)
• Auqib Nabi (J&K)
• Kanhaiya Wadhawan (J&K, wicketkeeper)

Standby Players: Shubham Arora (Himachal Pradesh), Jaskaranvir Singh Paul (Punjab), Ravi Chauhan (Services), Abid Mushtaq (J&K), Nishunk Birla (Chandigarh), Umar Nazir (J&K), Divesh Sharma (Himachal Pradesh)

Shardul Thakur Appointed West Zone Captain

Shardul Thakur will lead the West Zone team, comprising 15 members for the upcoming Duleep Trophy matches. The team selection, finalized after a meeting at MCA's Sharad Pawar Indoor Cricket Academy, features a blend of players from Mumbai, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Saurashtra.

Key players from Mumbai, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, and Sarfaraz Khan, have been included alongside Maharashtra's Ruturaj Gaikwad. Former India players Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were not named in the squad.

The selection committee has also announced a list of standby players.

West Zone Squad:

• Shardul Thakur (c)
• Yashasvi Jaiswal
• Aarya Desai
• Harvik Desai
• Shreyas Iyer
• Sarfaraz Khan
• Ruturaj Gaikwad
• Jaymeet Patel
• Manan Hingrajia
• Saurabh Nawale
• Shams Mulani
• Tanush Kotian
• Dharmendra Jadeja
• Tushar Deshpande
• Arzan Nagwaswala

East Zone Team Features Shami, Easwaran

Mohammed Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal from Bengal have been selected for the East Zone squad.

Ishan Kishan will captain the East Zone team, with Easwaran serving as vice-captain.

East Zone Squad:

• Ishan Kishan (C)(WK)
• Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC)
• Sandeep Pattnaik
• Virat Singh
• Denish Das
• Sridam Paul
• Sharandeep Singh
• Kumar Kushagra (WK)
• Riyan Parag
• Utkarsh Singh
• Manishi
• Suraj Jaiswal
• Mukesh Kumar
• Akash Deep
• Mohammed Shami

Standby Players: Mukhtar Hussain, Aasirwad Swain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Swastik Samal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Rahul Singh

The tournament will commence on August 28 with the quarterfinals, and West Zone will begin their campaign on September 4 with a direct entry into the semifinal. The final match is scheduled for September 11. All matches will be held at the BCCI Centre of Excellence ground in Bengaluru.