Duleep Trophy 2024: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli likely to feature in domestic tournament

First Published Aug 12, 2024, 12:38 PM IST | Last Updated Aug 12, 2024, 12:46 PM IST

The 2024 Duleep Trophy is expected feature the superstars of Indian cricket including current Test & ODI captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. With an eye of the Bangladesh Test series, the selectors are keen to have key players participating in the domestic first-class tournament which begins on September 5 in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.

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According to a report in The Indian Express, apart from Kohli and Sharma, the likes of Shuman Gill, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav have also been asked to take to the field in the tournament. Meanwhile ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been given an extended rest period after the T20 World Cup triumph in order to manage the 30-year-old's workload.

The six games of the Duleep Trophy will start on September 5 and end on September 24 while the first Test between India and Bangladesh will begin in Chennai on September 19. Therefore, those players making it to the national Test team won't be available for the entire tournament. The domestic tournament will serve as crucial match practice for the players and the presence of star players is expected to make it more competitive.

Meanwhile, veterans Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are unlikely to find a place in any Duleep Trophy team as the selectors are looking into the future prospects. Rahane led Mumbai to their 42nd Ranji Trophy title last season but the 36-year-old wasn't among the runs, scoring just 218 runs from eight appearances.

Pujara, on the other hand, accumulated 731 runs with from 11 matches, with an average of 78.1, including three centuries. The 36-year-old last played a Test for India in 2023, but has been leading the scoring charts in the domestic circuit.

The selection committee feels that youngsters Sarfaraz and Dhruv Jurel have shown great potential to fill their place. Both of them made their international debut against England in the five-Test series earlier this year and gave a good account of themselves, helping India prevail 4-1.

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