Indian Test captain Shubman Gill has been named the skipper of North Zone for the upcoming 2025 edition of the Duleep Trophy. Haryana’s consistent top-order batter Ankit Kumar will serve as his vice-captain.
Gill, who recently enjoyed a successful debut Test series as India’s red-ball captain, impressed both with the bat and his leadership skills, earning praise from former cricketers and selectors alike.
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒂 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒁𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍’𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒓𝒂. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚.”
Contingency Plans for International Commitments
With the Asia Cup 2025 scheduled from September 9 to 28 — overlapping with the Duleep Trophy dates — the squad has been named with backup players in place in case Gill or others are called up for national duty.
If Gill is unavailable, Shubham Rohilla will step in as captain. Gurnoor Brar will replace Arshdeep Singh, while Anuj Thakral will come in for Harshit Rana under similar circumstances.
The arrangement ensures stability for the North Zone while also accommodating India’s international schedule.
Strong Squad with Blend of Youth and Experience
Anshul Kamboj, who recently debuted for India in the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, is among the seamers selected. Left-arm spin-bowling all-rounders Mayank Dagar and Nishant Sindhu also feature in the squad, adding depth in the spin department.
Delhi contributes three players — Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni, and Harshit Rana — all currently active in the Delhi Premier League 2025.
From Jammu & Kashmir, five players have been named, including opener Shubham Khajuria and pacer Auqib Nabi, who was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy with 44 wickets in eight matches at an exceptional average of 13.93.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒙 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏.”
Opening Clash Details
North Zone will kick off their campaign against East Zone on August 28 at the Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru — marking the start of India’s domestic cricket season.
North Zone Squad 2025:
Shubman Gill (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar (vc), Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk)
Replacements: Shubham Rohilla (for Gill), Gurnoor Brar (for Arshdeep), Anuj Thakral (for Harshit)
Standby Players: Shubham Arora, Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, Divesh Sharma
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