India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma along with star batter Virat Kohli are likely to play in the upcoming Duleep Trophy after a long time. Rohit's last appearance in Ranji Trophy was in 2015 whereas Kohli played in 2012. However, Rohit featured in a First-Class game for Mumbai against New Zealanders in 2016 and then played in Duleep Trophy’s 2016-17 edition. Although it is still not confirmed the stalwarts participating in the Duleep Trophy this year have created buzz and taken the internet by storm. The likes of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Surykumar Yadav, and Kuldeep Yadav have also been asked to play in the Duleep Trophy marking an ideal preparation for the Test series against Bangladesh starting from September 19.
The Duleep Trophy will be played in a new format this year as the zonal format has been done away. Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar’s panel will pick the four squads — India A, India B, India C, and India D for this tournament. The tournament is scheduled to start on September 5 this year.
Virat last played in 2010
Virat Kohli last played in the Duleep Trophy when he was yet to play a Test match for India. In the 2010 semi-final, he represented the North Zone against West Zone. West Zone batted first and scored a mammoth total of 769, starring a double century from Abhishek Nayar and a century from Ramesh Powar.
Kohli batted at No.4 and top-scored for North Zone hitting a run-a-ball 56 as they were bowled out for 294. In West Zone's second innings, centuries from Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara helped them bat out the rest of the time and declare at 345-7 with match ending in a draw.
Rohit last played in 2016
Rohit's last Duleep Trophy match came in 2016, for India Blue against India Red held in Noida. He represented Gautam Gambhir led India blue. After Gambhir and Mayank Agrawal's half centuries Rohit walked in at 178-2 and scored 30 off 57 balls before being dismissed by Amit Mishra. India Red were then bowled out for 356, In India Blue's second innings, Rohit batted at No.3 and hit 32 off 75 balls as the side declared at 179-5.
R Ashwin: 2010
R Ashwin played in the 2010 semifinal for South Zone against Central Zone. He took 6 wickets in the match also showing his batting prowess scoring 58 & 59*, batting in the lower order.
Shubman Gill: 2019
Shubman Gill played in the Duleep Trophy in 2019, for India Blue. He led India blue that year.
Suryakumar Yadav: 2023
Suryakumar Yadav is a regular domestic player , he last played the Duleep Trophy in 2023. He played for West Zone against South Zone but had a poor run in the match.
Ishan Kishan: 2019
Ishan Last played Duleep Trophy in the season 2019-2020 where he represented India red led by Priyank Panchal that year.
Yashasvi Jaiswal :2022
Yashasi Jaiswal last played Duleep Trophy in the year 2022-2023, He represented Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone.
KL Rahul: 2014-2015
He represented South Zone led by Vinay Kumar
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