India’s Test captain Shubman Gill has reportedly been advised to rest due to illness and is expected to miss the entire Duleep Trophy 2025 season. Gill, who was slated to lead the North Zone squad, will instead directly join the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2025, where he serves as vice-captain under Suryakumar Yadav.
North Zone Appoints New Leadership
With Gill sidelined, Ankit Kumar from Haryana has been named captain of North Zone, while the squad continues to feature India stars like Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Anshul Kamboj. Arshdeep and Rana are expected to depart for national duties after North Zone’s opening clash against East Zone, as both are part of India’s Asia Cup squad.
Sources close to the development confirmed to Cricbuzz that:
“𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒉. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.”
To fill the gaps in the squad, North Zone selectors are adding Shubham Rohilla in place of Gill. Additionally, Gurnoor Brar and Anuj Thakral are expected to replace Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana after they depart for international duties.
Duleep Trophy 2025 Schedule and North Zone’s Campaign
North Zone will kick off their campaign in the first quarter-final against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. If victorious, they will face the South Zone in the semi-final at the same venue, with the winners advancing to the final five-day showdown.
Speaking about the team adjustments, a North Zone selector noted:
“𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒕 𝑲𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒁𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
North Zone Squad for Duleep Trophy 2025
Captain: Shubman Gill (illness)
Vice-Captain: Ankit Kumar
Players: Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Shubham Khajuria, Nishant Sindhu, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Dagar, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Yudhvir Singh, Aaqib Nabi, Ankit Kalsi, Sahil Lotra, Kanhaiya Wadhawan
Standby Players: Shubham Arora, Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, Divesh Sharma
Despite the setback, North Zone aims to deliver strong performances in the six-team Duleep Trophy, hoping to build momentum in the absence of their captain.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav’s Bold Leadership Style Tipped to Guide India to Glory
