Indian Test players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are set to feature in next month's Duleep Trophy ahead of a long Test season starting September 19 against Bangladesh. Earlier there were reports that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two senior pros are expected to feature in the Duleep Trophy, however, an ESPNCricinfo report confirmed that both of them are unlikely to play.
Not just Kohli and Rohit, R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah will also get an extended break straight into the Bangladesh Test series in September. However, Rahul, Pant, Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rajat Patidar and even Ishan Kishan, who hasn't been part of the national setup since December last year and was left out of the central contract list, are set to play in the four-team tournament set to kick off on September 5.
The teams are expected to be picked later this month under chief selector Ajit Agarkar's leadership.
India are scheduled to play 10 Test matches starting with a couple of them against Bangladesh, three against New Zealand and then five against Australia away in the Border Gavaskar in November, December and January.
While the reports of senior players playing in the Duleep Trophy floated around on Monday, August 12, Kohli's 14-year-old tweet has gone viral. "Wish me luck for Duleep Trophy," Kohli had said in a tweet dated January 25, 2010. Here's how the fans responded.
However, as the Cricinfo report stated, Kohli and Rohit will not be featuring while all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been exempted given he is nowhere in the red-ball scheme of things. Pacer Mohammed Shami, who is recovering at the NCA from his ankle surgery, is on the last stages of his rehab and might get a look-in before getting into the Test matches.
The four-team tournament will take place until September 22 with the table-topper after the round-robin league stage will be declared the winner.
