Before the 2025 Duleep Trophy, Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur spoke about the tournament and said he wants to make the most of the opportunity to play.
The tournament will start from August 28 to September 15 and will kickstart the Indian domestic season for 2025-26. Last year the format changed from the usual zonal structure to four Indian teams—A, B, C and D—picked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Shardul told Revsportz, “Duleep Trophy is a tournament where a player is rewarded for how he played in past seasons. Top 15 players from each zone play so the competition is tougher than at the state level where you see both strong and weak teams. Duleep Trophy is a competition among equals and I want to use this chance to perform and show what I can do.
West Zone is looking to win the title with players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan and Shardul in the team. Shardul said being made captain will be a good learning experience.
“Being given the role to lead the West Zone isn’t a challenge but a chance for me to learn what makes a good leader. I think I have some of those qualities already but I want to get better during this tournament. As captain I need to be there for the players, talk about bowling styles, fielding positions and strategies. I’m excited to see what I can gain from this leadership role,” he added.
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Shardul’s tour in England wasn’t great. He played two matches and scored 46 runs in three innings with his highest score being 41. He also took two wickets.
Thakur also spoke about the final Test at The Oval. England needed 35 runs on the last day with four wickets remaining and India needed to believe they could win.
On day four the old ball was still swinging which helped us get the important wickets of Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell. After Joe Root’s wicket it was time for the next day, Shardul remembered.
The whole team believed we would win. Gauti Bhai told us to keep believing we could do it, he said. (Mohammed) Siraj and Prasidh (Krishna) were bowling well so they had to start well and they did. Siraj and Prasidh deserve a lot of credit for getting those wickets and pushing themselves, especially Siraj after playing all five Tests. We just had to build the pressure and one team would crack. I think we did well, he said.
