The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah said on Thursday that star batters Rohit and Virat Kohli should not be insisted on playing Duleep Trophy since exposing them more will have a risk of injuries. The Duleep Trophy, which marks the beginning of red-ball cricket in the domestic season, will feature top India stars from the international circuit and emerging talents competing at the highest level. The tournament is set to begin on September 5, 2024, in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

Though BCCI is encouraging top Indian players and regulars to take part in domestic cricket more regularly, Shah said that the two cricketing icons should not be insisted on playing in the tournament to reduce the chance of them sustaining injuries. He also noted how in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket.

In a media interaction with Mumbai, as quoted by Wisden, Shah said, “We should not insist on players like Rohit and Virat to play in the Duleep Trophy. They will risk injury. If you have noticed, in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket. We have to treat the players with respect.”

Notably, India’s key players of red-ball cricket, including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah, will not feature in the competition.

Rohit’s last appearance in the tournament was back in 2016 while for Virat it was back in 2010, when he was yet to feature in a Test for India.

He also said that other notable names will be involved in domestic cricket during the coming days, notably Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer who lost their BCCI central contracts due to their alleged lack of participation in domestic red-ball cricket.

“Apart from them, everyone else is playing. You should appreciate that. One must note that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are playing in the Buchi Babu tournament,” added Shah.

The Buchi Babu tournament, which is starting on Thursday will see the participation from Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav representing their state teams.

Star India batters Rishabh Pant, Kishan, Shubman Gill and many more players are set to feature in the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 season.

Notably, pacer Prasidh Krishna will make his comeback after serving a lengthy period on the sidelines due to injury. Since 2019, Krishan’s career has been plagued by injuries. He sustained a stress fracture on his left leg in 2019, a stress fracture of the back in 2022, and a quadriceps injury in 2024.

Young batter Tilak Varma has also been included in the tournament. He suffered a wrist injury towards the end of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Youngster Musheer Khan, who starred for India in the Under-19 World Cup, has been rewarded for his consistency. The 19-year-old all-rounder enjoyed a breakout season after lifting the Ranji Trophy with Mumbai earlier this year. Musheer will look to make his mark after being included in the Duleep Trophy.

Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been included in the first round of the tournament, but his participation remains subject to fitness.

Players who will be selected to represent India for the home Test series against Bangladesh will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy. India will kick off the Test series against Bangladesh on September 19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

The four squads for the first round of the tournament:

Team A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).

Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier.

Team D: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar.