Shubman Gill will captain North Zone in the Duleep Trophy
Shubman Gill will captain North Zone in the Duleep Trophy
Shubman Gill is ready to lead the 15-member North Zone team in the upcoming Duleep Trophy starting on August 28. Teammates Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana have been added to the squad to prepare for the Asia Cup.
India’s Test captain Shubman Gill will lead North Zone in the 2025–26 Duleep Trophy, which marks the start of the domestic cricket season. The tournament begins on August 28 in Bengaluru. Fast bowlers Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep Singh, who recently played in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, are part of the squad. Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, adds more strength to the pace attack.
If Gill, Arshdeep, or Harshit are selected for India’s Asia Cup squad, they will be replaced by Shubham Rohilla, Gurnoor Brar, and Anuj Thakral. The Asia Cup will run from September 9 to 28, overlapping with the Duleep Trophy final, which is scheduled between September 11 and 15.
Ankit Kumar, who was Haryana’s top scorer in the last Ranji Trophy season with 574 runs in 14 innings at an average of nearly 59, has been named vice-captain. His teammate Nishant Sindhu, a left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, is also in the squad.
From Delhi, only Harshit Rana, Yash Dhull (former Under-19 World Cup-winning captain), and Ayush Badoni have been selected. All three are currently playing in the second season of the Delhi Premier League T20 tournament.
Five players from Jammu & Kashmir have made it to the squad, including opener Shubham Khajuria and fast bowler Auqib Nabi. Nabi was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy, with 44 wickets in eight matches at an impressive average of 13.93.
Ravi Chauhan from Services and Nishunk Birla from Chandigarh have been named as stand-by players.
The Duleep Trophy has returned to its traditional zonal format this season. Last year, teams were picked by the national selection committee and grouped as A, B, C, and D. This time, zonal selection committees made up of one selector from each state in the zone will choose the squads.
North Zone will play the opening match of the season against East Zone starting August 28 at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
North Zone squad:
Ankit Kumar (vc), Shubman Gill (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ayush Badoni, Ankit Kalsi, Yash Dhull, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Mayank Dagar, Arshdeep Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Harshit Rana, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk)
Replacements: If Gill, Arshdeep, or Harshit have to play for India during the tournament, they will be replaced by Shubham Rohilla, Gurnoor Brar and Anuj Thakral.
Stand-bys: Shubham Arora, Ravi Chauhan, Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Divesh Sharma, Umar Nazir.