With the Duleep Trophy transferring away from the zonal format, the nationwide selectors have chosen a horde of worldwide stars for the red-ball match that may open the 2024-25 home season subsequent month.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah introduced 4 squads on Wednesday – India A, India B, India C and India D – for the primary spherical filled with Take a look at regulars besides Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and the injured Mohammad Shami.
Whereas India’s rapid focus will likely be on the 5 residence Assessments towards Bangladesh and New Zealand, the workforce administration will even have an eye fixed on seam-bowling and batting back-ups for the five-Take a look at tour to Australia beginning in November.
Nevertheless, the pointers from the chosen squads don’t replicate effectively on the home performers from earlier seasons. As an alternative, the selectors stay eager to proceed banking on gamers with worldwide expertise and IPL publicity for the red-ball set-up.
Solely 26 of the 61 chosen gamers are uncapped, 15 of them being bowlers.
Among the points that come to the fore are:
Lack of seam-bowling all-rounders
Given the dearth of strong choices and Hardik Pandya’s aversion to enjoying the longest format, Shivam Dube finds himself among the many outstanding all-rounders within the squads. Dube, nonetheless, loved success on his red-ball return for Mumbai final season after almost 4 years. He scored over 400 runs and picked up 12 wickets along with his mild medium tempo. Andhra teen Nitish Kumar Reddy is the one different outstanding fast-bowling all-rounder within the record. Recovering from an harm, Nitish’s availability is topic to health.
Nitish Kumar Reddy of Sunrisers Hyderabad play a shot throughout match 23 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad held on the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Worldwide Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur on the ninth April 2024. (Photograph by Arjun Singh / Sportzpics for IPL)
Medium-pacers aplenty
Ten uncapped gamers make up the seam-bowling class for the primary spherical of matches. Whereas the frontline pacers are Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed, the brand new faces largely fall into the medium-pace class, underlining a giant concern concerning the subsequent crop.
Amongst them, Karnataka seamer Vidwath Kaverappa stands out after a powerful begin to his First-Class profession, having already amassed 80 wickets from 20 matches. Kaverappa was a part of the India A sides that performed South Africa A and England Lions in early 2024, scalping 4 wickets from three outings.
Mumbai seamer Mohit Awasthi, who picked up 35 wickets throughout their run to the Ranji Trophy title earlier this 12 months has been named within the India B facet. Whereas he missed out on the ultimate, the medium-pacer recorded two seven-wicket hauls throughout the 2023-24 Ranji season.
Not all choices had been primarily based on current First-Class type forward of the Australia tour. Whereas left-arm seamer Yash Dayal solely registered 14 wickets within the earlier Ranji Trophy season, Delhi seamer Harshit Rana has not featured in any red-ball fixture because the final Duleep Trophy. The identical additionally applies to Assam’s Akash Sengupta, who has solely gathered 12 wickets from 13 First-Class innings, averaging over 66 with the ball.
Delhi fast Himanshu Chauhan, who returned 30 wickets in his maiden Ranji Trophy season earlier this 12 months, Karnataka’s Vyshak Vijaykumar and Vidarbha’s Aditya Thakare spherical up the opposite picks.
Spin all-rounders on the rise
With an eye fixed on nurturing back-ups for India’s ageing spin duo of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, the selectors have roped in 4 spin-bowling all-rounders among the many newer choices. Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, who recorded 29 wickets and 502 runs together with a career-best 120 not out batting at no. 10 within the Ranji Trophy, has been named within the India A facet.
Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar has additionally entered the fray after constant runs throughout two home seasons. The 23-year-old picked up 55 wickets in 11 Ranji matches throughout the final two seasons. Suthar additionally impressed in India A colors towards the England Lions in Ahmedabad in January. The left-arm spinner bagged eight wickets in two innings and hit an unbeaten 89 throughout a 490-run chase in that sport.
Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, who recorded 29 wickets and 502 runs together with a career-best 120 not out batting at no. 10 within the Ranji Trophy, has been named within the India A facet. (PTI)
Off-spinners Saransh Jain and Hrithik Shokeen have additionally joined a protracted queue that features the likes of R Sai Kishore, Saurabh Kumar, Washington Sundar and leggies Rahul Chahar and Mayank Markande.
Contemporary guard with the bat
The selectors have opted for a change of strategy on the batting entrance, calling up children who’ve recorded greater than 500 runs within the final Ranji season whereas pushing out greater names.
Baroda’s Shashwat Rawat cracked 4 centuries within the Ranji Trophy final season, together with one within the quarter-final towards eventual champions Mumbai. The 23-year-old left-hander will be part of Jharkhand wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra in an India A facet comprising Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Mumbai sensation Musheer Khan, who notched up a double hundred on his Ranji debut and smashed a century within the closing towards Vidarbha, additionally finds himself within the operating.
Madhya Pradesh’s Yash Dubey, Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper Aryan Juyal, Atharve Taide (Vidarbha) and Bengal’s Abishek Porel are the opposite younger batters to obtain a nod.
SKY within the combine, heavyweights out
Regardless of a lacklustre begin to his Take a look at profession, 33-year-old Suryakumar Yadav finds himself again on the selectors’ radar. Nevertheless, his T20I teammate Rinku Singh didn’t seize a spot regardless of averaging almost 60 in his First-Class profession with Uttar Pradesh. Whereas Suryakumar holds on, a sequence of home heavyweights in Jaydev Unadkat, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur and Prithvi Shaw have been compelled out from the reckoning forward of India’s upcoming 10-Take a look at window.
Duleep Trophy: Contemporary faces
Batters, WKs: Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shaswat Rawat, Musheer Khan, N Jagadeesan (wk), Abishek Porel (wk), Baba Indrajith, Aryan Juyal (wk), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Ricky Bhui (wk).
Pacers: Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Awasthi, Yash Dayal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Harshit Rana, Aditya Thakare, Akash Sengupta.
Spinners: Tanush Kotian, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain.
Notable exclusions: Jaydev Unadkat, Shams Mulani, Hanuma Vihari, Rinku Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Prithvi Shaw, Navdeep Saini, Pradosh Paul, Akshay Wadkar.