MUMBAI: In a sensational, but slightly expected development, the West Zone selectors on Friday ignored India’s veteran out-of-favour 37-year-old batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara – this virtually signalling an end to their comeback aspirations for India in red-ball cricket – while picking a 15-man strong West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, which will begin at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) from Aug 28.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Led by Mumbai chief selector Sanjay Patil (meeting was convened by Mumbai Cricket Association secretary Abhay Hadap), the West Zone selection committee, which met at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s BKC facility on Friday to pick the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, named India and Mumbai’s Test allrounder Shardul Thakur as the captain of the side. The tournament, which will be played on a zonal basis again, will kick off the 2025-26 domestic season.
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Being the defending champions (they won the Duleep Trophy in the 2023-24 season), West Zone have been seeded directly into the semifinals, which will be played from Sept 4-7, followed by the final from Sept 11.In a recent interview on Sky Sports, Rahane, who led India to an inspiring, historic Test series triumph Down Under in 2020-21 but has been out of the Indian Test side for the last couple of years, expressed his desire to make a Test comeback. However, being ignored for the Duleep Trophy is a big blow for the experienced batter, who still aspires to wear the India cap. Rahane played the last of his 85 Tests against West Indies at Port of Spain in June 2023, while Pujara played the last of his 103 Tests against Australia in the World Test Championship final in June 2023.
“It’s time to move ahead. It was tough to find a spot for Rahane and Pujara in the West Zone squad. With the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer being there, there’s tough competition for the slots. Rahane’s performance in the Ranji Trophy wasn’t great – he averaged around 35,” a source told this paper. Captaining Mumbai to the semifinals, Rahane endured an ordinary season for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, managing to score 467 runs in nine matches@35.92, with one century and one half-century. Even though he led Mumbai to their 42nd Ranji Trophy title in 2023-24, Rahane struggled with his own form, scoring 214 runs in eight matches@17.83, with just two fifties and a top score of 73.Pujara, a domestic run-machine, scored 402 runs in seven matches @40.20, with one hundred and one fifty for Saurashtra in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. He has been a commentator during India’s last two Test series in Australia and England.During his visit to London to watch Wimbledon and the Lord’s Test between India and England, Rahane had reiterated his “hunger and passion” for the game and red-ball cricket, even though he has “got no response” from the selectors. “I still want to play Test cricket,” he had told Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton in an interview with Sky Sports. “I’m really passionate about playing Test cricket. I’m enjoying my cricket at the moment.““For me, it’s all about focusing on the controllable things. Frankly, I tried to have conversations with the selectors, but things [like that are] as a player I cannot control. I got no response. As a player all I can do is keep playing cricket, keep enjoying the game, give my best each and every time. I love playing Test cricket, love playing red-ball, it’s a passion. The love for the game keeps me going,” Rahane had said.Ironically, Rahane has been in fine form in T20 cricket. Playing under Shreyas Iyer last season, he was in prime form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, smashing 469 runs in nine matches@58.62, including five fifties and scoring his runs at a fabulous strike rate of 164.56, thus playing a stellar role in his team’s title victory. Captaining Kolkata Knight Riders in a disappointing IPL-2025 campaign, where they finished eighth out of ten teams, Rahane was the highest run-getter for his team, scoring 390 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 147.27.Jaiswal to play, Jadeja restedWhile the squad features Mumbai’s India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been rested for the tournament after a gruelling tour in which he has played in all the five Tests. Saurashtra left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja is in the West Zone squad.Ignored by the national selectors for the England tour, Mumbai batters Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan and Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad have been picked in the West Zone side. Also present in the squad is Mumbai seamer Tushar Deshpande, who played for India A in England.India’s left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Mumbai’s white-ball allrounder Shivam Dube have failed to make it to the squad. Mumbai’s 18-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre, who scored two centuries during the two Youth tests against England during India Under-19 team’s England tour recently and has been named as the captain of the India U-19 side for the Australia series, is missing from the squad, as he will be busy with India Under-19 commitments.The squad: Shardul Thakur (captain) (Mumbai), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai), Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai), Sarfaraz Khan (Mumbai), Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra), Shams Mulani (Mumbai), Tanush Kotian (Mumbai), Tushar Deshpande (Mumbai), Dhamensinh Jadeja, Saurabh Nawale (Maharashtra), Harvik Desai (wk), Aarya Desai (Gujarat), Jaymeet Patel (Gujarat), Arzan Nagwaswala (Gujarat).
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