From Rishabh Pant to Shubman Gill: The Key Focus Areas of the Duleep Trophy

New Delhi: A rare calm has settled over the fast-paced world of Indian cricket. Following their last ODI match against Sri Lanka on August 7, the Indian team will not take the field again until Bangladesh arrives for a two-Test series starting on September 19. While this break may leave fans eager for action, there is a silver lining to this period of respite. For the first time in a while, many of India's top players, with the exception of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, and Jasprit Bumrah, will be participating in the Duleep Trophy, commencing on September 5. Their involvement is expected to inject new energy into the competition, which has been lacking momentum and was even put on hold during the Covid pandemic. This year, the tournament will follow a non-zonal, four-team format, promising an exciting showdown among the nation's finest players.

Once the home season begins for India, the insanity of the breathless scheduling will resume as the team builds up to the big-ticket tour of Australia at the end of the year. With India eyeing a hat-trick of Test series wins in Australia, the selectors will keep a close watch during the Duleep Trophy on the players who can make it happen. There are other interesting aspects also to keep an eye on; among the captains of the four teams is a possible future India skipper, for example.

Pant’s red-ball return

If there was an appropriate time for Rishabh Pant to get back into red-ball cricket after his car accident in December 2022, a few months out from another tour of Australia is just about perfect. The 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was Australia’s tormentor Down Under during India’s epochal series win in 2020-21, producing stupendous knocks, switching between defence and daredevilry, in back-to-back Tests to reinforce his standing as a generational talent.

There was suspicion after the harrowing morning of December 30, 2022 — Pant suffered serious injuries — whether he would ever return to play. Not only has he erased that doubt, he’s also managed to show that his attacking instincts with the bat and agility with the keeping gloves are very much intact. Particularly in the early stages of the T20 World Cup, he made some effective contributions at No.3 on surfaces in New York antithetical to stroke-making.

By donning the whites again, Pant will be returning to the format where he’s had the biggest impact. At the time of the accident, Pant, then 25, already had Test centuries in Australia, England and South Africa — a feat no other Indian wicketkeeper has managed. A member of Team A in Duleep Trophy, he will want to use the competition to get reaccustomed to the cadence of duration cricket.

Pace pack for Australia tour

Unless something untoward happens in the next few months, it is safe for the selectors to pencil down Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami (fitness permitting) and Mohammed Siraj as three of the likely five-member pace attack that will travel to Australia. But who will be the other pacers in the mix?

To know how important these back-up options are, you just need to rewind to the tour of South Africa six months ago where India could have come away with more than a drawn Test series if Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur hadn’t been profligate in the first Test. Together, they leaked 194 runs in 39 overs to allow the Proteas to run away with the game, wasting the pressure-building efforts of Bumrah and Siraj. On the flat and hard pitches in Australia too, accuracy and discipline will be integral to success. Over the course of a five-Test series, all the pacers will have a role to play.

In Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Harshit Rana, Vidwath Kaverappa, Vyshak Vijaykumar and Krishna, there are a range of exciting options. Who boards that flight to Australia will depend on how they fare over the next few weeks and months.

Iyer, Kishan back in the fold

Given the vast pool of talent available to Indian cricket, a misstep or two can lead to the derailment of a player’s career. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan seemed to be on the precipice after irking the decision-makers by not playing in the Ranji Trophy towards the end of last season — they were omitted from the central contracts — even if they had legitimate reasons to not do so.

With 61 players picked for the four Duleep Trophy squads, it was obviously prudent to give Iyer and Kishan a look-in. Neither has a compelling first-class record, but they have the attributes to turn things around and make up for lost time. Iyer has been made captain of Team D while Kishan is the sole wicketkeeper for the side.

Grooming Gill for leadership

By naming Shubman Gill the Team A skipper, the selectors continue to underline their intention of grooming the top-order batter as a potential India captain. Gill was captain of the second-string Indian team that toured Zimbabwe for five T20Is, but more significant was his elevation as vice-captain of a near full-strength team against Sri Lanka. Chief reasons Ajit Agarkar spelt out the reasons at a press conference last month.

“Shubman is the guy, we feel,” Agarkar had said. “He’s a three-format player, seems to show a lot more qualities over the last year or so that we hear from the dressing room. Shubman has shown some decent leadership qualities, and we want to try him to get experience. There are no guarantees, but at this point that’s the thought.”

It’s a sign that Gill may be the deputy to Rohit Sharma when the Test squad for next month’s series against Bangladesh is announced.

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