Shubman Gill, the India Test captain, has been chosen to lead North Zone in the 2025 Duleep Trophy. The tournament starts on Thursday, August 28, with North Zone taking on East Zone at the BCCI Center of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru.
Ankit Kumar to lead
But reports say Gill is unwell and won’t play in the first match. If Gill can’t play, Ankit Kumar, a 27-year-old right-handed top-order batter, might captain North Zone. Ankit plays for Haryana in domestic cricket. He has scored 2151 runs in 36 first-class matches so far. When the North Zone team was picked a few weeks ago, he was chosen as Gill’s second-in-command.
Cricbuzz was told by the North Zone selection committee that they had been expecting Gill to not play in the inter-zonal tournament which starts on August 28 at the CoE in Bengaluru. But as of Friday, August 22, they had not received any official word from the North Zone associations. Sources close to Gill told Cricbuzz that Gill will miss the Duleep Trophy opener.
Gill replacement named
The North Zone selectors had already planned for a replacement if Gill couldn’t play. When the squad was announced, Shubham Rohilla was named as Gill’s replacement. Ankit Kumar was named vice-captain of the North Zone team so he will now lead the zone in the Duleep Trophy.
Replacements for Asia cup pacers named
Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, pacers who will play in the Asia Cup 2025, are also in the North Zone team. They will play in the first round of the six-team tournament. But if North Zone makes it to the semifinal, they won’t be available as they have to play for the national team. Gurnoor Brar and Anuj Thakral were named as replacements for the two pacers by the North Zone selectors for the remaining matches.
Easwaran to play for east Zone
On the other side, Abhimanyu Easwaran, a batter from Bengal, will captain the East Zone team. The 29-year-old was chosen to lead East Zone after Ishan Kishan had to drop out of the quarterfinal because of an injury. Akash Deep, a pacer from Bengal who is from Bihar, will also miss the Duleep Trophy 2025 because of fitness issues. But Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar will play for East Zone.
North Zone squad: Ankit Kumar (C), Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Sahil Lotra, Shubham Khajuria, Kanhaiya Wadhawan, Ankit Kumar, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Mayank Dagar, Anshul Kamboj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Auqib Nabi Dar
East Zone squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Virat Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Sandeep Pattnaik, Sridam Paul, Aasirwad Swain, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Kumar Kushagra, Mohammed Shami, Manishi, Denish Das, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar
