Shortage of Emerging Pacers and Seam-Bowling All-Rounders in Squads
With the Australia tour nearing, the selectors have leaned towards players with international experience and IPL exposure rather than recent First-Class performers as they announced squads for the Duleep Trophy, marking the start of the 2024-25 domestic season. Moving away from the zonal format, the BCCI has included a mix of Test regulars and fresh talent across four teams—India A, B, C, and D—for the tournament beginning next month.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah revealed that most Test regulars, excluding Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and the injured Mohammad Shami, will participate in the tournament. The selectors aim to keep an eye on the seam-bowling and batting backups for the upcoming five-Test tour of Australia in November, as well as the five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Despite the spotlight on key matches ahead, the squads indicate a preference for players with international exposure over domestic standouts. Of the 61 selected players, only 26 are uncapped, with 15 of them being bowlers.
Given the limited options and Hardik Pandya’s reluctance to return to Test cricket, Shivam Dube stands out as one of the main all-rounders in the squads. Dube made a successful red-ball return for Mumbai last season, scoring over 400 runs and taking 12 wickets with his medium pace. Andhra’s Nitish Kumar Reddy is the only other significant fast-bowling all-rounder, although his participation depends on his fitness as he recovers from injury.
The seam-bowling contingent features ten uncapped players. Leading the attack are established pacers like Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Siraj, and Khaleel Ahmed. However, the fresh faces mostly consist of medium pacers, raising concerns about the depth of upcoming talent. Among them, Karnataka’s Vidwath Kaverappa has emerged as a standout, with 80 wickets from 20 First-Class matches, earning him a place in India A sides earlier this year.
Mumbai’s Mohit Awasthi, who took 35 wickets in the recent Ranji Trophy season, has been included in the India B squad. Other notable selections include left-arm seamer Yash Dayal and Delhi’s Harshit Rana, despite their lack of recent red-ball action. Assam’s Akash Sengupta, Delhi’s Himanshu Chauhan, Karnataka’s Vyshak Vijaykumar, and Vidarbha’s Aditya Thakare round out the seamers in the squads.
The selectors have also focused on finding spin-bowling all-rounder backups for Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, who had a strong Ranji season with 29 wickets and 502 runs, has been named in the India A squad. Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar, who picked up 55 wickets across two seasons and impressed in India A games, is another addition. Off-spinners Saransh Jain and Hrithik Shokeen have also been included among a long list of spinners vying for a place in the team.
On the batting front, selectors have opted for youngsters who excelled in the recent Ranji season. Baroda’s Shashwat Rawat, who struck four centuries, and Mumbai’s Musheer Khan, who scored a double ton on debut, have earned places alongside more experienced players like Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Other promising batters like Yash Dubey (Madhya Pradesh), Aryan Juyal (Uttar Pradesh), and Atharve Taide (Vidarbha) have also been called up.
Despite a slow start to his Test career, Suryakumar Yadav has been retained in the setup, while T20 star Rinku Singh has been overlooked despite his strong First-Class record. The exclusion of domestic veterans like Jaydev Unadkat, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shardul Thakur, and Prithvi Shaw signals a shift in the team’s approach as they prepare for a packed Test calendar.
Duleep Trophy: Fresh Faces
Batters, WKs: Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shaswat Rawat, Musheer Khan, N Jagadeesan (wk), Abishek Porel (wk), Baba Indrajith, Aryan Juyal (wk), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Ricky Bhui (wk).
Pacers: Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Awasthi, Yash Dayal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Harshit Rana, Aditya Thakare, Akash Sengupta.
Spinners: Tanush Kotian, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain.
17 August 2024, 11:20