Top Team India stars will feature in the Duleep Trophy, with the tournament set to mark the start of the 2024/25 domestic season. With the Indian team’s next assignment scheduled in late Septemeber, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the four squads for the upcoming Duleep Trophy tournament, which will be played between September 5 and 24 in Anantapur. Top stars, minus Virat Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, will feature in the first round of the tournament.

Shubhman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer have been assigned as captains for the tournament.

In a recent conversation, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah opened up on the absence of Rohit and Virat from the Duleep Trophy. Shah said that forcing Rohit and Virat to play domestic cricket makes no sense, citing workload concerns.

However, Shah insisted that anyone who got injured and eyes a comeback into the national side will have to go through domestic cricket to climb the ladder.

Shah pointed out an incident from 2022 when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja got injured, and only returned to the team after featuring for his domestic Saurashtra.

“We have been little strict. When Ravindra Jadeja had got injured, I was the one who called him and asked him to play a domestic game. It’s certain now, whoever gets injured and goes out, can only come into the Indian team after proving his fitness in domestic cricket. But it doesn’t make sense to add to Virat and Rohit’s load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured. You also need to look at England and Australia. None of their top players play domestic cricket. We must treat our players respectfully and not treat them like servants. If you look Duleep Trophy squad, apart from Rohit and Virat rest are going to play,” Shah told Times of India.

Rohit and Virat will now feature in the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh next month.