Indian cricket stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be reportedly seen in domestic action as the stalwarts might feature in the Duleep Trophy as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee want all the Test players ready for the state-level action ahead of the Bangladesh series. (More Cricket News)
As per a report in The Indian Express, the BCCI selection committee will pick four squads for the four teams - India A, India B, India C and India D - that will be part of a new-look Duleep Trophy.
Apart from Kohli and Rohit, the likes of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel have also been called up to play the coveted competition.
However, India's star bowler Jasprit Bumrah who featured in the T20 World Cup, will not feature and probably be rested for the Bangladesh series.
India's itinerary sees them play 10 Tests in the space of four months that includes five home Tests (2 Tests against Bangladesh, 3 Tests vs New Zealand) and a five-match series against Australia.
The Duleep Trophy will be played in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. With star players all in likelihood to play, the BCCI is also planning to keep one round at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru since the former is not connected by air transport.
The six matches of Duleep Trophy will start from September 5 and will conclude on September 24 whereas the 1st India vs Bangladesh Test begins in Chennai from September 19.
As per the report, there is no confirmation as to whether Rohit and Kohli will play the Duleep Trophy opening match on September 5 or the second round that begins from September 12.
Not too long ago, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had advised that all national players take part in domestic cricket except for the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah. The likes of Suryakumar, Sarfaraz Khan will be playing in the Buchi Babu invitational tournament that will be played on August 15 in Tamil Nadu.
Shreyas Iyer-Ishan Kishan
The selectors will also be picking Ishan Kishan for the Duleep Trophy. The southpaw will be in reckoning for the red-ball cricket as the selection committee wants him to resume playing if he wants to play for the Indian team.
Kishan and Iyer had been dropped from the BCCI's annual contract list after they failed to play Ranji Trophy despite the selection committee asking them to do so last season.
