The domestic season, which begins with the Duleep Trophy on Thursday, will provide an opportunity for the Test hopefuls to make a mark ahead of the two Tests versus Bangladesh, three against New Zealand followed by the five-match series Down Under.
The Duleep games will be held in Bengaluru and Anantapur with a number of big names featuring in the four teams. In action will be Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran and KS Bharat, among others.
With the Test squad for the home series against Bangladesh set to be picked later this week, there’s an opportunity for those on the fringes to impress the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel. Besides the middle-order slots, the focus will be on the reserve opener alongside regulars Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal.
Gill currently occupies the No. 3 spot, while Rahul has expressed his preference to bat in the middle order. But that will mean no place for youngsters like Sarfaraz, who impressed during India’s last Test series against England at home.
Pant’s red-ball return will be closely monitored by the national selectors. Pant, who returned to white-ball formats after that horrific car crash, is yet to play in the multi-day format. His last red-ball outing was against Bangladesh in December 2022.
Keeper-batter Ishan Kishan, though, will miss the first round because of a groin injury. Kishan is part of the Shreyas Iyer-led Team D. Suryakumar Yadav will also be unavailable due to a sprain on his right thumb.
Gill positive
Gill admitted on the eve of the Duleep Trophy game that he hasn’t done justice to his potential in Test cricket.
“Yes, I’ve not been up to my expectations (in Test cricket],” he said in Bengaluru. “But we have 10 Tests coming up. Hopefully, after these 10 Tests, I’ll be up to my expectations or more.”
He said he has worked on his batting. “I worked on my defence a little more, especially against spinners. Playing on turning tracks, you should be able to defend a lot more.
“Then you play scoring shots. With more T20s and playing on batting-friendly tracks in white-ball formats, I feel it takes away a bit from your defensive game for over a period of time,” he said.
