Duleep Trophy: While Shubman Gill’s Team A and Abhimanyu Easwaran’s Team B battle it out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Team C and Shreyas Iyer’s Team D will duke it out at the RDT Stadium in Anantapur. The two first-class games will simultaneously start at 9:30 AM on September 5 and kick off the Indian domestic 2024-25 season.
Of the 30 players in the squads for the Team C vs D match, 10 might fancy themselves to find a spot in the squad of the upcoming 2-match Test series between India and Bangladesh. However, only six players have represented India in Test cricket this year. One of whom won’t find himself in the starting XI.
Team C: Suryakumar Yadav uncertain, Gaikwad in focus
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan will open for Team C. Gaikwad missed some Ranji matches last season due to injury but did well in others. He usually bats at 3 but can open. Sudharsan is currently in England preparing for the Duleep Trophy by playing County Cricket. Baba Indrajith and Rajat Patidar will bat at 3 or 4. Indrajith was one of the best first-class batters last Ranji season, and Patidar made his India Test debut against England just six months ago.
Suryakumar Yadav would have surely played, but he’s uncertain due to an injury. In his absence, wicketkeeper batter Aryan Juyal will play. The 22-year-old from Uttar Pradesh already has 3 centuries to his name and averages almost 40 in first-class cricket. It’s uncertain whether Abishek Porel or Juyal will keep wickets, but both will play.
Manav Suthar and Hrithik Shokeen will be the two spinners. Both played 5 matches in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 and took 15 and 17 wickets, respectively. They have a first-class batting average of 30 and 32 as well. Vyshank Vijaykumar earned himself a BCCI bowling contract earlier in the year and will be in the XI. The other two pacers will be last Ranji season’s 2nd highest wicket-taker, Gaurav Yadav, and Delhi’s most successful bowler, Himanshu Chauhan.
Duleep Trophy: Team C’s Predicted XI
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Baba Indrajith, Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Abishek Porel (WK), Manav Suthar, Hrithik Shokeen, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Gaurav Yadav, Himanshu Chauhan.
Team D: Kishan pushes KS Bharat out, all eyes on Shreyas & Arshdeep
Openers for Team D will be Atharva Taide and Devdutt Padikkal. Taide impressed in the last Ranji season, and Padikkal already played Test cricket for India earlier in the year. Ricky Bhui was the best batter in Ranji, with 902 runs to his name, and Yash Dubey got 615 runs as well. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan would look to make a bid for the Indian Test side and would hold the middle order together.
Axar Patel and Saransh Jain will be the two finger-spinning all-rounders. Arshdeep Singh, who selectors want to take to Australia, will be the main bowler to watch. Harshit Rana, who made his India debut just last month, will look to prove his red-ball prowess. Tushar Deshpande won’t make the cut as his Mumbai teammate, Aditya Thakare, will play ahead of him due to his superior Ranji performance last season. Another big omission would be of KS Bharat. With Kishan present, Bharat won’t play unless an injury forces a batter out.
Duleep Trophy: Team D’s Predicted XI
Atharva Taide, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dubey, Shreyas Iyer (c) Ricky Bhui, Ishan Kishan (WK), Axar Patel, Saransh Jain, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Aditya Thakare.
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