Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan (Twitter)
The second round of Duleep Trophy will begin on September 12. India A will challenge the D squad at Rural Development Trust Stadium, while India B will play C at Rural Development Trust Stadium B in Anantapur. In the opening game, both India A and D suffered a defeat and will be hoping to make a comeback, while both B and C registered a win and the goal will be to continue with the same momentum.
Meanwhile, multiple India cricketers like Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yash Dayal, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Akash Deep among a few others have left their respective Duleep Trophy squads to join the Indian camp in Chennai for the upcoming Bangladesh Test series. Sarfaraz Khan is the only cricketer who has been named in the India squad but will also be featured in the second round of the domestic tournament.
Meanwhile, the spotlight will be on multiple cricketers in the second round. Out of which, there are three cricketers on which, the BCCI selectors will keep a close eye as they are very much in the scheme of things as far as Test cricket is concerned.
Here are three players to watch out for in Duleep Trophy Round 2:
3. Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfaraz Khan has done well in domestic cricket, which helped the cricketer earn a call-up during the Test series against England. He impressed the team management in the three matches that he played, scoring 200 runs at an average of 50. Courtesy of which, the Mumbai batter was one of the players to watch out for in the first game, but he could score only nine and 46 runs in the first and second innings, respectively.
That helped him seal his spot in the Test team for the Bangladesh series, but the cricketer is currently behind KL Rahul in the pecking order. As per reports, Rahul will be playing the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai as Sarfaraz will be a backup option.
Also Read: Sarfaraz Khan to play next round of Duleep Trophy despite being named for Bangladesh Tests
The 26-year-old has a good chance to prove himself in the upcoming fixture and force the team management to think otherwise. Rahul, India’s first-choice player for the number five position, didn’t do very well in the first round either. He scored a half-century, but it went in vain as his team, India A lost the game by 76 runs. Sarfaraz has the opportunity to impress the management with a match-winning innings.
2. Shreyas Iyer
India D captain Shreyas Iyer flopped in the first innings against India C but hit a cracking half-century in the following innings. He looked in good touch but will have to contribute more to get back into India’s scheme of things. Given that he has been made the captain, BCCI selectors are keeping a close eye on his development, as Shreyas is regarded as one of the better players of spin in the country.
The 29-year-old played 73 first-class matches in his career and has scored 5727 runs at an average of 48.53. He was a regular in the Test team at one point, but the cricketer flopped in the South Africa series earlier in the year and also in the first two matches against England after which, he was dropped from the squad.
Also Read: I don’t see any chances for Shreyas Iyer in Tests at the moment: Aakash Chopra
He was also removed from BCCI’s central contract for not playing in the Ranji Trophy semi-final. The Mumbai batter returned for the final and went on to win the tournament and even the IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He also made his comeback in the Indian team in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, but his Test comeback completely depends on how he does in the Duleep Trophy and the upcoming edition domestic season for that matter.
1. Navdeep Saini
The selectors will keep a close eye on Navdeep Saini. The pacer has done extremely well in the first round of the Duleep Trophy, and he would hope to keep up with the momentum. India head coach Gautam Gambhir is a big supporter of Saini’s bowling and if the Haryana-born continues to impress, he will definitely be in the reckoning.
In the first game against India A, the 31-year-old built a valuable partnership with Musheer Khan and made 56 runs. He also picked up a total of five wickets in two innings, as India B went on to win the match. The goal now should be to keep up with consistency in the remaining matches and fight for a comeback to the national team.
He has immense competition, though. The likes of Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshit Rana, and Mukesh Kumar are also fighting for a place alongside Akash Deep and Yash Dayal, who are already a part of the Indian team for the Bangladesh series.