As several senior India players prepare for the Duleep Trophy first round from September 5, one goal is clear from the squad selection process by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI): the need for fast bowlers. India’s lead crop, headlined by Jasprit Bumrah and ably supported by Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, may be one of the finest in the world. But with Bumrah frequently rested, Shami yet to regain fitness and Siraj sometimes blowing hot and cold, the BCCI are aiming to develop a crop capable of taking over from the lead act.

The BCCI elected more than 20 pacers across the four squads for the Duleep Trophy. Several of the lot are uncapped at the international level, while some others have barely a few India matches to their name.

“It’s a question of identifying the right ones and giving them opportunities to be ready for the Australian trip. There are lots of bowlers who hit 140-150 kph in the IPL. So it is about nurturing and giving them the right exposure,” said former India bowling coach Bharat Arun, speaking to The Indian Express.

While the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep have been tried, none of them have reached even 30 international matches across all formats. Even Arshdeep Singh has not been fancied for the longer format. Arun emphasised the importance of the Duleep Trophy.

“Red ball cricket is something these bowlers must get used to. We have time but we need to prepare by giving them enough overs under their belt.

“Bowling in first-class cricket, you bowl on unresponsive pitches. You have to come out with some guile or you would need to learn how to reverse the ball because of the conditions that exist in our country. I think it helped Siraj and Shami a great deal,” Arun added.

Another former India bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey, downplayed the importance of performing in the IPL in order to judge a bowler’s skill. Notably, the likes of Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak are all in the Duleep Trophy lineups, but arguably thanks to their IPL form. Mhambrey took the example of Umran Malik to reiterate his point.

“Umran is a classic case of who has not played enough red-ball cricket. He came to the reckoning through the IPL. That’s 24 balls in a game. The amount of pressure of bowling 24 balls is not like the red ball. I feel this (T20) is not a format to judge a prospect,” said Mhambrey to The Indian Express.

Full list of fast bowlers and pace-bowling all-rounders selected for Duleep Trophy first round:

Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Umran Malik, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Anshul Kamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Aditya Thakare, Akash Sengupta, Navdeep Saini, Mohit Avasthi, Sandeep Warrier, Gaurav Yadav, Shivam Dube, Nitish Reddy

Team India’s star wicket-keeper batsman gave fans a sneak peek into his love for cinema, as he recreated actor Rajinikanth’s iconic sitting pose from the film ‘Kabali’. Pant – who has made a successful comeback into the India setup after recovering from his horrific car accident – posted a collage, where he is mimicking the same post as the legendary South Indian actor. The post went viral amongst fans, racking up a whopping 600,000 likes in just six hours of being uploaded.

Rajinikanth starred in the movie ‘Kabali’ in 2016. The movie is about revenge taken by the hero against those who oppressed Tamil labourers in the film. Directed by Pa. Ranjith, the film was a massive box-office hit. Rajinikanth’s iconic pose is perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the film.

Pant revealed his admiration for Rajinikanth, as he dressed up in a regal outfit and recreated the pose. He also captioned it ‘Thalaiva’, which means ‘leader’ or ‘boss’ in Tamil.

When does Pant play next?

Rishabh Pant has had an amazing 2024 on the cricket field. Not only did he recover from his horror accident, he piled up 446 runs in IPL 2024 and then won the T20 World Cup 2024 as India’s first-choice wicket-keeper batsman.

Despite not having the best of games during India’s tour to Sri Lanka, Pant is still India’s leading wicket-keeper batsman candidate across formats. He is expected to play a big role as India host New Zealand and then tour Australia for Tests later in the year.

Pant is going to be one of several Indian stars to play in the Duleep Trophy 2024, which will begin on September 5. Pant was named in India B, alongside India teammates Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, and Mukesh Kumar.

Pant recently played the first game of the Delhi Premier League, representing Purani Delhi 6, scoring 35 runs in 32 balls.

Indian pacer Harshit Rana posted a heartwarming picture on social media, celebrating his call-up to the ODI team with his father and telling him that this accomplishment of his life “belongs to him”. Harshit Rana was among the younger and newer stars named in the white-ball team for India’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka starting from July 27 onwards. This will be India’s first-ever international assignment under the new head coach, Gautam Gambhir. The former opener was announced as India’s coach earlier in July after Rahul Dravid’s contract ended following Men in Blue’s ICC T20 World Cup title win.

Taking to Instagram, Rana wrote, “This BELONGS to you…LOVE YOU DAD.” In the past, Rana lifted his father, Pradeep, in his arms, who was wearing an Indian jersey.

Rana was also a part of the squad for the Zimbabwe tour this month, which involved five T20I matches, but did not play a game. Harshit had a splendid IPL with tournament winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), a team which Gambhir mentored to their first title in a decade and overall their third. The 22-year-old picked 19 wickets at an average of 20.15, picking big scalps throughout the season, including Heinrich Klaasen, Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, and KL Rahul. He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the season.

Notably, Rana has taken 28 wickets in 25 T20Is. Notably, the Delhi bowler can bat as well, as he has a century and fifty each in first-class cricket, in which he averages 49.00 in nine innings with a strike rate of 89.

India will be led by two different captains for the T20I and ODI legs of the Sri Lanka tour, all set to commence on 27 July. With Rohit Sharma having retired from the T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side in the shortest format against Sri Lanka. Barring a few changes, the side bears a familiar look to the squad that featured in India’s successful ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign.

The ODI side sees a number of stalwarts, including Rohit and Virat Kohli, return to the setup. The squad looks similar to the one which dominated the 2023 50-over World Cup in India, ending up as runners-up to Australia in a heartbreaking loss after a 10-match win streak.

T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), duhubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

Former India cricketer VVS Laxman stated that it was a great gesture by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to hand over the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy to Rahul Dravid. It was a special moment for India in Barbados as they ended their 13-year-long drought of an ICC World Cup following a slender 7-run win over South Africa. Dravid celebrated by jumping out of his chair, expressing the relief and joy that millions of Indian fans across the world were feeling.

The victory turned out to be redemption for Dravid, who served as the captain of the Indian team in 2007, when India surprisingly crashed out of the World Cup in the West Indies, which lingered in the cricketing history of the nation.

However, on the same soil, Dravid turned the nightmare into a day to remember by admiring the object he desired and holding it aloft high in the air for the first time in his illustrious career.

Dravid, who is known as “The Wall”, a man who rarely shows his emotion, letting it out and making the triumph even more memorable.

“When he (Dravid) lifted the World Cup, I thought it was a great gesture by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to hand over that trophy, and the way he celebrated lifting that trophy showed how much it meant to each one of them. The amount of hard work they put in. The celebration told the bigger story behind this victory,” Laxman said in a video posted by BCCI on X.

How much the #T20WorldCup triumph means to India?

VVS Laxman reflects on that memorable day in Barbados – By @ameyatilak #TeamIndia | #Champions | #ZIMvIND | @VVSLaxman281 pic.twitter.com/ETZAxsgVj1

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 12, 2024

Rohit collapsed to the ground as the last wicket fell, sealing the victory. The emotions were visible on the face of every player. Rohit went on to lift the ICC T20 World Cup hero, Hardik, who was in tears after defending 16 runs in the final over against South Africa.

He kissed Hardik on the cheek as the emotional all-rounder was speaking after the match.

“Everyone showed their emotions. So it showed how much it meant to each and every player of that sport. You know, it’s not only the playing 11, but even the support staff, the coaching staff, emotions were really high. You saw Hardik Pandya break down and, you know, showing his emotions once he bowled his last delivery, you saw Rohit Sharma on the ground. Then someone like Rahul, with whom I’ve played so much of cricket, known him for so many years, for him to show that emotions, first when the last ball was bowled, and then, you know, just… the conversations he was having with various team members,” he said.

“It is a special feeling, keeping in mind that we have come close. Just six months back, you know, we should have won the 50-over World Cup, dominating the entire tournament, and then not able to cross the final hurdle. So it’s a special feeling for everyone involved, not only as a former cricketer, but I think the entire country is rejoicing with this result,” he added.

India captain Rohit Sharma with PM Narendra Modi.© AFP

File photo of Indian cricket team.© AFP

India cricket legend Yuvraj Singh sent social media into a frenzy with a tweet, following India’s semi-final win over England in the 2024 T20 World Cup. As India ran out convincing winners by 68 runs, Yuvraj tweeted “Goodnight in-laws”. The tweet is a humorous reference to his wife Hazel Keech, who was born and brought up in Britain. A star of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup triumph, Yuvraj will now be cheering on Rohit Sharma and co. as they aim for a second title.

After the semi-final, Yuvraj tweeted: “Well played boys. Goodnight in-laws.”

Well played boys goodnight in-laws #IndiaVsEng #ICCMensT20WorldCup2024

— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) June 27, 2024

Put into bat by England, India notched 171 on the board in 20 overs. Thereafter, India skittled out the English batting lineup for just 103. Axar Patel was Player of the Match, picking up three wickets. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav also got three, while Jasprit Bumrah took two.

Earlier, Rohit Sharma’s 39-ball 57 and Suryakumar Yadav‘s 36-ball 47 helped India to an above par score on a slow, spin-friendly pitch at Guyana’s Providence Stadium. Despite some rain interruptions, India managed to score big.

Yuvraj is no stranger to scoring runs against England in T20 World Cups. He famously smashed Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over during the 2007 T20 World Cup, en route to a 12-ball half-century.

Yuvraj has also been in the USA during the T20 World Cup, and has appeared in the commentary panel for some of India’s games.

India will now take on South Africa in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Much like the 2023 ODI World Cup, India will enter the final having not lost a single game in the tournament. Interestingly, South Africa also have a 100% win record in this edition, as they gear up to play their first T20 World Cup final.

The final will take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29.

T20 World Cup: File image of Virat Kohli.© AFP

File photo of Suryakumar Yadav.© AFP