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Shardul Thakur To Captain West Zone In Duleep Trophy 2025; No Place For Rahane And Pujara

Rajgeeta Yadav

West Zone squad announced [Source: AFP]West Zone squad announced [Source: AFP]

India's domestic cricket season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy, starting on August 28 in Bengaluru. Interestingly, this year, the tournament will go back to the zonal format, where teams represent different zones of India.

Ahead of the domestic tournament, West Zone has announced its squad, with Shardul Thakur named as the captain. The team features several well-known Indian players, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

However, this time the team made a significant change by leaving out two experienced players, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Shardul Thakur To Lead West Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025

Shardul Thakur has been a key player for Mumbai in recent Ranji Trophy seasons. He has helped the team both as a bowler and as a lower-order batsman, often scoring crucial runs alongside teammates like Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani.

As reported by The Indian Express, Shreyas Iyer was a strong contender for captaincy, but the selectors decided against naming him as captain since he might be picked for the Asia Cup, starting on September 9. Instead, they handed the leadership role to Shardul Thakur.

Just a day earlier, there were reports that Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, and Shivam had confirmed they were available to play in the Duleep Trophy.

Shreyas Iyer has played 14 Test matches for India, scoring one century and five fifties, but hasn't played a Test since February 2024 against England. Sarfaraz Khan also played in that England series but hasn't been in the Test squad since then. Now, he gets another opportunity to prove himself.

West Zone Squad For Duleep Trophy: 

Shardul Thakur (Capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmendra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala