As to the reports, Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has explicitly stated that even top players will need to participate in domestic cricket when they are not serving their country. The talisman trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma will, however, be exempt.
As a warm-up to the home Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand in August, the BCCI wants all the other Test specialists to participate in at least one, if not two, of the Duleep Trophy matches.
“The Duleep Trophy does not have a zonal selection committee this time. Duleep teams will be chosen by the national selection committee alone. Every candidate for the Test team will be chosen. It will be up to Rohit, Virat, and Bumrah to decide whether or not they want to participate, an insider was cited by India Today.
India and Bangladesh are scheduled to play a two-match Test series starting in September. The tour will conclude with a three-match Twenty20 International series between the two teams. New Zealand will go to India in October to participate in a three-match Test series. As of right now, Rohit and company lead the World Test Championship (WTC) points standings. They would like to maintain that position by winning the home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
T20I captain Hardik Pandya will guide India
According to recent rumours, Hardik Pandya is currently dominating the competition to replace Rohit Sharma as captain of India’s Twenty20 international team. Sharma departed from the format after the Men in Blue’s successful Twenty20 World Cup 2024 campaign.
Later this month, India will play a three-match Twenty20 International series in Pallekele against Sri Lanka. This tour, which also happens to be Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as India’s new head coach, will see Hardik lead the team.
Also Read: India will benefit from Gautam Gambhir’s aggression and winning attitude: Brett Lee
Under Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya led India’s T20 team as deputy captain. He will captain the team and is fully healthy for the three-match T20I series, according to a senior BCCI source.