New Delhi: As the Team India squad for the approaching first Test against Bangladesh has already been announced, the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024 is set to witness a few changes in the four squads competing in the tournament. The players who are part of the 16-member Test squad will be leaving the domestic event to head for the preparatory camp as the two-match series gets underway on September 19.
As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the Indian Test players are likely to be withdrawn from the second round of Duleep Trophy games which starts on September 12 in Anantapur. But the players will be leaving without Sarfaraz Khan, who, despite being a part of the Bangladesh Test squad, will remain with India B to play in the second round that is scheduled to end on September 15, three days before the start of the first Test in Chennai.
Why Sarfaraz won’t take part in the camp?
According to a PTI report, Sarfaraz Khan is set to be piped by KL Rahul in the India playing XI of the first Test against Bangladesh. The report says that the management will prefer Rahul over Sarfaraz due to his experience.
“For people on the outside, they don’t understand how a team works and what are the systems in place. In his last three Test matches, KL scored a century in South Africa, one of the best Test knocks in recent times, and 86 at Hyderabad in the last Test he played before injury,” PTI quoted a source as saying.
“He was not dropped but got injured. So, he is fit and available, scored a fifty in Duleep, got match time and he will start,” the source added.
India squad for first Bangladesh Test:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
Affected Duleep Trophy sides
India A are set to lose Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav and Akash Deep who will be replaced by Pratham Singh, Akshay Wadkar, Shaik Rasheed, Shams Mulani and Pulkit Narang.
India B are likely to lose Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Yash Dayal while India C are unaffected by the changes. India D are likely to lose Axar Patel and an injured Tushar Deshpande. The two will be replaced by Nishant Sindhu and Vidhwath Kaverappa, who is likely to move from India A.
Rinku set to play Duleep Trophy
The ESPNcricinfo report also mentioned the development on Rinku Singh whose omission from the first-round Duleep Trophy 2024 squads was a major talking point despite boasting an impressive record in domestic cricket. Now that the Indian team players will be departing from their respective squads, one of the vacant spots in India B will be filled by Rinku Singh for the tournament’s second round, as per the report. Suyash Prabhudesai and Himanshu Mantri will be the other two players in India B.
With the two-match Bangladesh Test series approaching, the Indian Test players are gearing up for the red-ball action and will be leaving the ongoing Duleep Trophy for the preparation camp. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
