Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Eye Duleep Trophy Stint Ahead Of Bangladesh Test Series

Senior Indian cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are expected to participate in the upcoming Duleep Trophy. The tournament is set to commence on September 5 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Reports suggest that Rohit and Kohli might play in the Duleep Trophy to prepare for next month's Test series against Bangladesh. Other Test players have also been asked to join the domestic competition, which was initially planned to start in Anantapur from September 5.

Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and R Ashwin are anticipated to take part in the Duleep Trophy. Additionally, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to be included.

Mohammed Siraj and other regular Test players are also expected to be selected. However, Jasprit Bumrah will be exempted from domestic duties. Hardik Pandya, who no longer plays red-ball cricket, and Mohammed Shami are also expected to miss the tournament.

CricBuzz reports that Rohit and Kohli have been given the option to decide if they want to play. On the other hand, Indian Express mentions that they may feature either in the first or second match of the tournament depending on a camp planned by BCCI.

The Duleep Trophy will feature teams India A, India B, India C, and India D. Ajit Agarkar's panel will select the four squads for this tournament, which will consist of four-day matches.

Inclusion of Dropped Players

Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were recently dropped from the BCCI central contract, are also expected to be picked for the tournament. Iyer has already returned to the national team setup during the last ODI series in Sri Lanka. Kishan has not played for India since being dropped from the annual contract.

The Indian cricketers last played a Test match earlier this year in March. Therefore, participating in the Duleep Trophy could provide them with valuable match practice ahead of their two-Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19 in Chennai.