Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Duleep Trophy Round Two: A Look at Changes, Top Players & More

The second round of the Duleep Trophy begins on September 12

The first round of the Duleep Trophy concluded with India B winning a game against India A, whereas India C won against India D by four wickets. The first round saw several players released, receiving a national call for India’s Test against Bangladesh. The list of players included Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep.

Now, as the tournament gets ready for its second round, which is to go live on September 12, take a look at the team-wise change, match schedule, and players that one should keep an eye on.

On September 12, two matches will begin simultaneously, with India A going against India D at 9:30 a.m. at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. The other game will feature India B taking on India C from 9:30 a.m. onwards at the ACA ADCA Ground, Anantapur.

Duleep Trophy table ahead of the round two

Team wise changes

India A: Given Gill has received a call from the national camp, Mayank Agarwal will replace him as captain. In place of KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep, lesser-known names such as Pratham Singh (Railways), Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha CA), and SK Rasheed (Andhra CA), Shams Mulani, and Aaqib Khan (UPCA) will replace them.

India B: India B will miss the services of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant. They will be replaced by Suyash Prabhudessai and Rinku Singh, respectively. Given that Yash Dayal has received his maiden call, Himanshu Mantri (Madhya Pradesh CA) will replace him. Sarfaraz Khan also received a call for the Chennai Test against Bangladesh, but he remains with the squad to play round two of the tourney.

India D: From India D, Axar Patel will miss the remainder, having called for the Bangladesh Test. He has been replaced by Nishant Sindhu (Haryana CA). Tushar Deshpande has suffered an injury, and therefore, India A’ Vidwath Kaverappa will replace him in India D.

India C will return to the second round without any changes in the squad.

Players to watch

While the first round of the tournament has helped several players get a national call, several other season names have been ignored. Therefore, the spotlight will be on these names, and they will hope to do better if they wish to don the Indian jersey.

Rinku Singh is undoubtedly the most prominent name who, despite having an impressive first-class record and a T20I stint with India, was not included in the Bangladesh Test. Shivam Dube is another name who will grab the limelight on the pitch.

Mayank Agarwal, who played his last Test in 2022, has big shoes to fill and must get a bagful of runs if he wishes to revive his international career. Returning from injury, lanky pacer Pacer Prasidh Krishna must perform efficiently for a chance in the Australia tour. Other notable names who must up their games are Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Sai Sudharsan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Not to forget, Musheer Khan, who grabbed headlines for triple digit scores, will hope to keep the momentum going.

Where to watch

The second round's live telecast will be hosted by the Sports18 network channel, whereas live streaming will be available on the OTT platform JioCinema.