Duleep Trophy 2024 is set to witness cricket of a quality the Indian domestic circuit has not seen in a long time. Here are the best possible starting XIs for each of the four teams.
For this exercise, let us assume that the teams will enter Duleep Trophy 2024 with two objectives: to win the tournament as well as to provide the practice and opportunities to the India Test regulars and fringe cricketers.
For all four Duleep Trophy 2024 squads, click here.
India A predicted XI for Duleep Trophy 2024
Starting XI: Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill (c), Tilak Varma, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed. Reserves: Tanush Kotian, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shashwat Rawat
Gill cemented the No.3 spot during the England series at home earlier this year, and that is where he is likely to bat. That will allow India A to pair Rahul and Agarwal at the top. India A can slot in three batters who can bowl below these three. Kuldeep will want a game before the Test season, while one of the right-arm fast bowlers – Akash, Prasidh, Avesh – will sit out. Once the Test regulars leave, expect Kushagra and Kotian to get some games.
India B predicted XI for Duleep Trophy 2024
Starting XI: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Musheer Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, R Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar. Reserves: Rahul Chahar, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk).
All eyes will be on Pant as he is set to play first-class cricket for the first time since his horrifying accident at the end of 2022. The Khan brothers of Mumbai, Sarfaraz and Musheer, will probably bat on either side of him. In Sundar and Reddy, India B have two very good but injury-prone all-rounders, which may enable them to play the extra bowler. Expect Jagadeesan to get opportunities once Pant leaves.
India C predicted XI for Duleep Trophy 2024
Starting XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Suryakumar Yadav, Baba Indrajith, Abishek Porel (wk), Manav Suthar, Hrithik Shokeen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Sandeep Warrier, Mayank Markande. Reserves: Gaurav Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Aryan Juyal (wk), Himanshu Chauhan.
Things do not look great for India C. Suryakumar Yadav has been ruled-out of the first round with a hand injury, meaning they may have to draft Juyal of Uttar Pradesh, the reserve wicketkeeper of the side, into the starting XI. Since India do not have an obvious successor to R Ashwin – Sundar’s promising career has been plagued by injuries – Delhi off-spinner Shokeen will be in focus.
India D predicted XI for Duleep Trophy 2024
Starting XI: Yash Dubey, Atharva Taide, Devdutt Padikkal, Shreyas Iyer (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Axar Patel, Saransh Jain, Saurabh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana. Reserves: Tushar Deshpande, Aditya Thakare, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk).
India have been on the lookout for a left-arm fast bowler. If he does well here, Arshdeep will leapfrog some of his rivals. Kishan will probably keep Bharat out of the XI, while one of Rana and Deshpande will sit out (Saurabh’s batting will give him an edge).
This tournament will be a great opportunity for Axar, who has lost his place in the starting XI to Kuldeep. His spin partner, Madhya Pradesh off-spinner Jain, is a possible heir to Ashwin. Unlike Shokeen, Jain is handy with the bat as well.
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