Shubman Gill to lead North Zone squad for first time in Duleep Trophy 2025
With the tournament returning to the six-team zonal format, Gill will be joined by Punjab and Haryana pacers Arshdeep Singh and Anshul Kamboj from the Test squad that had recently ended the England tour on a high with a dramatic six-run win at the Oval.
Gill's North Zone side will feature in the quarter-final match against East Zone, led by Ishan Kishan, at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from August 28. The 25-year-old Gill had a dream start to his Test captaincy as he also converted his middling record in whites by smashing batting records with 754 runs in the series. Gill's four centuries are the most by any captain in an away Test series as he joined the legendary club of Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar as the only leaders to ever achieve the feat.
This will be the first time Gill will lead the North Zone team in the Duleep Trophy, having recorded appearances for India Blue and India A in five matches in the past. Last year, Gill captained the Duleep Team A side in one match in Bengaluru, scoring 25 and 21 during a 76-run defeat.
Six members from the Jammu and Kashmir team have been picked in the North Zone squad, while Haryana batter Ankit Kumar was appointed as Gill's deputy.
North Zone squad: Shubman Gill (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar (vc), Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk).
Replacements: Shubham Rohilla to replace Shubman Gill, Gurnoor Brar to replace Arshdeep Singh and Anuj Thakral will replace Harshit Rana in case of any India commitments during the tournament.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
The Bumrah connundrum — When to play him or when not to
Ben Stokes spent nearly every single one of the 63 overs India batted on day four of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on the field of play. At various stages during that phase, as the visitors battled desperately to erase a first-innings deficit of 311, he was sorely tempted to mark his run-up and get cracking, but England's mercurial captain simply couldn't. Because he had been expressly forbidden from doing so. Stokes watched with mounting frustration as K.L. Rahul and Shubman Gill rescued their side from the depths of 0 for 2 in the first over to reach stumps at 174 without further damage. It was a no-brainer that, the following morning, the third-wicket pair would encounter the Stokes challenge. Unsurprisingly, Stokes bowled the final day's second over. And the fourth. And the sixth… After each ball, he grimaced. He clutched at the inside of his right shoulder, near his bicep. He darted towards cover, pain writ large on his face. He created a chance that Ollie Pope put down at cover to reprieve Gill, on 80. He produced a nasty in-ducker that stayed low and trapped Rahul plumb in front for 90, the opener nearly 'walking' without waiting for the umpire's signal before being persuaded by his partner to requisition a futile review. He then struck Gill, on 90, flush on his helmet via the right thumb with a snorter that took off from nowhere. Braving pain This was supposed to be a dead fifth day track in Manchester – as India's final tally of 425 for four which earned them a stellar draw will testify to – but clearly, no one had told Stokes that. Or, if they had, he hadn't listened. Setting extreme physical discomfort aside, he delivered a spell of 8-2-12-1, phenomenal, other-worldly, the pain barrier shattered. But Stokes would bowl only three more overs over the remaining four and a half hours, opting to preserve himself for the last Test once it became apparent that only a heavy-duty crane could pluck one of Ravindra Jadeja or Washington Sundar out from the middle. But not even Stokes, mighty Stokes, superhero Stokes, could buck medical advice ahead of the Oval Test. Scans on his troublesome shoulder revealed a grade three muscle tear that needed at least six weeks of rest. Stokes briefly weighed up the odds of playing merely as a batter, then decided that on the risk versus reward scale, he would be selling himself and his team short. And therefore, he watched helplessly from the balcony as India rallied to pull off a memorable six-run win to bring the curtains down on one of the greatest Test series in recent memory. Joining Stokes on the sidelines for the epic at the Oval, also on medical advice, was a gifted pacer from the opposition universally hailed as the most feared bowler in the world. Just as watching Stokes going through a spell is fascinating, seeing Jasprit Bumrah stitch together an over, a spell, is extraordinarily fulfilling. Every ball holds the promise of an event, of a spectacle, of a slice of magic that is quintessentially Bumrah. It could be a pinpoint yorker, a beautifully disguised slower one, an away-swinger to the right-hander that goes away late and is delivered with the same action as an inswinger, a less-frequently-used (which makes it more effective) short ball that spits nastily. All with a snappy wrist and therefore pronounced backspin which, combined with his hyperextended right elbow, makes him every batter's worst nightmare. There was a huge clamour for Bumrah to play in the series decider, in a manner of speaking, even though he had played the three Tests that he was supposed to figure in by then. Going into the Oval, India couldn't win the series, but they had a great chance to leave England with honours shared for the second successive tour. It was obvious this would be the liveliest surface of the five, that Bumrah would be more lethal than he had been in the preceding 19 months. And boy, was he lethal during that period. From the beginning of 2024, in 17 Tests and 32 innings, Bumrah had racked up 87 wickets at the incredible average of 16.74. He picked up a scalp every 33.5 deliveries – that's roughly six and a half overs per success. Even by his lofty standards, that was remarkable; Bumrah boasts 219 wickets in 48 Tests overall at 19.82 and 42.6 respectively. To comfortably overshadow already exceptional career figures after undergoing back surgery was tribute not just to his skills but also his commitment to the cause, and to the constant upscaling of his skillsets that already are second to none. To contemplate the mayhem Bumrah would unleash at the Oval boggled the mind. He had a very capable attack to support him, not least Mohammed Siraj who would eventually play the key role. All Bumrah had to do was turn up and do this thing; he didn't have to go flat out because the conditions would be his ally. In theory, all this added up quite beautifully. But cricket, like all sports, is anything but a theoretical exercise. Contrary to popular perception, Bumrah did volunteer to play at the Oval. He didn't make it seem like a great virtue or a favour to the side; he knew he would make a difference, but his desire to play had to be validated by the medical experts who know his body almost as well as, if not better than, the protagonist himself. The advice was that he could play, provided he didn't overstretch, which translated to him not bowling more than a specific number of overs. That didn't fly with the Gujarat pacer – he couldn't go into a game with one hand tied behind his back. In the heat of the battle, mundane things like a blanket figure on the number of overs he could bowl, and no more, couldn't be a factor. But the medical team was clear that if he didn't heed their inputs, he left himself open to the possibility of irreparable long-term damage to his back. It was in these circumstances that Bumrah had to sit himself out, most reluctantly, because in his mind, he was clear – all or nothing, no half-measures. It's easy to sit back and pontificate on what Bumrah should or should not have done. But it is also fair to ruminate over the impossible predicament of Gill, a first-time captain who was forced to operate without his primary attacking weapon for 40% of the series. Which brings us to the contentious matter of what India do with Bumrah. There is no denying the value the 31-year-old brings to the table. Are India a stronger side with Bumrah in the playing XI? Without a shadow of doubt. Just his mere presence is a morale-booster for his colleagues; it also triggers waves of self-doubt, uncertainty and anxious nervousness in the minds of the opposition. It's all fine to state that since Bumrah seldom bowls more than five overs in a single spell, it is reasonably straightforward for batters to 'see' him off and then milk the rest. If that were the case, how does one explain 87 wickets in his last 17 Tests, strike-rate 33.5? How did he court so much success if the batters knew the pattern of Bumrah's usage in this period, by Rohit Sharma, by Bumrah himself in the two Tests that he was in charge of in Australia over the winter, and then by Gill? But that's only one half of the story. The other, undeniable half, backed up by statistics rather than subjective analysis, is that India have won only one of the last eight overseas Tests in which Bumrah has played – in Perth last November. Both their triumphs in England came in his absence – Siraj and Akash Deep combined for 17 wickets in Birmingham when the visitors registered a record 336-run win in Birmingham last month, while Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took the same number of wickets at the Oval last week. Bumrah did take five-wicket hauls in two of the three first innings, in Leeds and at Lord's, but neither counted for much in the final analysis. Most crucially, Bumrah's now-on, now-off avatar, even if not of his own volition, left Gill with an unsettled bowling group. Constancy in selection and consistency in personnel are key ingredients to forging a successful entity. Because Bumrah would not be able to play all matches – a non-negotiable pre-series development as opposed to a mid-series conundrum sparked by an unforeseen injury – Gill was denied that bare minimum requirement. It couldn't have been easy for the skipper to marshall his troops under these circumstances, something that must be factored in when he is judged as a leader. In so many ways, what's best for Bumrah (and that can't be overlooked, ever) isn't necessarily best for India, and therein lies the problem. How do India handle the Bumrah imbroglio going forward? Things aren't likely to change, the cap on the number of overs/matches when it comes to Bumrah is certain to remain in place. Every time India play a series for which he is selected, the 'how many games?' question is certain to rear its head. Will that be a distraction, as it was at various stages in England? How will Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir view this vexing long-term issue? And how long will Bumrah himself be able to reconcile to not being able to walk alongside his teammates game after game even though he is fit and available for selection? India don't travel for a Test series outside the subcontinent until November next year. Fifteen months is a long, long time in any endeavour, not least professional sport; India can get by with limited Bumrah time at home (against West Indies and South Africa) and a year hence (in Sri Lanka). But in New Zealand next year, in their last overseas league engagement in the current World Test Championship cycle? Ah well, 15 months is a long time, isn't it?
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Marnus Labuschagne "Would Be Happy" On Opening Batting For Australia In Tests
Australia batter, Marnus Labuschagne, has been out of the Aussie Test lineup since the ICC World Test Championship Final 2025 against South Africa, according to the ICC website. Following the final, he was dropped in the West Indies after a considerably poor run in the format, where he's averaged 33.08 since December 2022. Now the batter is ready to return to the international red-ball format and take up the role of an opener in the upcoming Ashes series. "I would be happy to do that [open batting] - I would love to. If opener is where I need to bat to be playing in the Test team, that's fine," Labuschagne said. Opening is not Labuschagne's natural suit, but Cameron Green had an impressive run in seaming conditions at No. 3, which was Labuschagne's older role. Green scored 184 runs in six innings in the West Indies. This might mean that Labuschagne could be asked to try his luck as an opener yet again, and the batter was more than ready to give it a go. "If you had asked me where I prefer to bat, obviously I have batted at three my whole career, but at this stage, you don't get a choice. I opened in the World Test Championship final and felt I batted quite well. I got in but did not go on with it," he added. Labuschagne scored 39 runs over two innings in the final at Lord's, getting starts but failing to convert them. But the batter, who plays three Sheffield Shield games before the Australia home Tests, can still be in consideration, given Sam Konstas' dry run in the West Indies (50 runs from six innings). Labuschagne is still a part of the ODI setup and can feature in the upcoming three-game series against South Africa.
Mint
3 hours ago
- Mint
BCCI puts ball into Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's court on ODI future; ‘if they have something in mind, they would tell…'
Following the completition of the England Test series, the chatter around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's ODI future once again came to the fore. The speculations regarding the Indian stalwart's future in 50-over cricket started recently when a Dainik Jagran report stated that duo might retire after their away series against Australia in October. Having already retired from Tests and T20Is, both Rohit and Kohli are only available for ODIs for India. Based on the report, if the Indian duo wants to prolong their career - particularly play in the 2027 ODI World Cup - its compulsory for both Rohit and Kohli to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy later in the year to stay in shape for selection. However, according to a PTI report, the BCCI is not thinking about Rohit and Kohli's immediate future but the 2026 T20 World Cup and the Asia Cup 2025. 'Obviously, if they (Rohit and Kohli) have something in mind, they would tell the BCCI brass like they did before the England Test tour,' the news agency quoted a BCCI official, on conditions of anonymity. "But from an Indian team's perspective, the next big assignment is the T20 World Cup in February and preparations before that. The immediate focus will be on sending the best team for the Asia Cup T20 tournament, hoping all players are fit and available," the source added. The last time Kohli and Rohit played for India was during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which the Men in Blue won for the second time in history. The Indian team was led by Rohit, who defeated New Zealand in the final played in Dubai.
