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

Seamer Mohammed Siraj will miss the Duleep Trophy’s first round games due to illness while veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been allowed an extended period of rest by the BCCI’s national selection committee, which announced a few changes to the participating squads on Tuesday. The first round of the Duleep Trophy, comprising two matches, will be held from September 5-8 with India A taking on India B at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and India C facing off against India D at the Rural Development Trust Stadium A in Ananthapur.

Siraj, who was a part of India’s last away assignment in Sri Lanka, along with Umran Malik have both been ruled out of the first round games and have been replaced by Navdeep Saini and Gaurav Yadav respectively.

“Both Siraj and Malik are suffering from an illness and are not expected to be fit in time for their Duleep Trophy fixtures,” the BCCI informed in a release.

“All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has also been released from the Team B squad,” the board added.

Jadeja was last seen in action in the T20 World Cup final in June against South Africa and was rested from the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

The 32-year-old Yadav, who hails from Madhya Pradesh, took 41 wickets in seven matches for Pondicherry in the last season of Ranji Trophy to finish as the second highest wicket-taker in the country’s premier domestic competition.

Revised squads:

India A: Shubman Gill (c), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk).

India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier.

India D: Shreyas lyer (c), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar.

Indian pacer Umran Malik said that he feels better after recovering from dengue and is focused on preparing for the Duleep Trophy, which will start from September 5 onwards. Umran has finally recovered from the disease and has joined the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where he is going to prepare for the upcoming domestic season. Speaking to ANI, Umran said, “I am feeling better and now I am fully focused on the preparation of the Duleep trophy at NCA. I hope, I will be doing good in this season for my team.”

Umran made his international debut for India in 2022 and since then, has played 10 ODIs and eight T20Is for India, picking up 13 and 11 wickets respectively in both formats. His best bowling figures across both formats is 3/48.

Having made his first-class cricket debut in 2021, Umran has taken 16 wickets in 12 games at an average of 44.62, with the best figures of 3/25.

Umran rose to fame with his fantastic bowling performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, taking 22 wickets in 14 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at an average of 20.18, including a five-wicket haul. He was the team’s leading wicket-taker and overall fourth-highest wicket-taker that season.

The Duleep Trophy, which marks the beginning of red-ball cricket in the domestic season, will feature top India stars from the international circuit and emerging talents competing at the highest level.

The tournament is set to begin on September 5, 2024, in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

The four squads for the first round of the tournament:

Team A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).

Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier.

Team D: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar.

Indian Premier League (IPL) has produced a lot of domestic talent for Team India. From the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, IPL is highly responsible for taking Indian cricket to new heights. One such talented cricketer, who rose to fame through IPL is pacer Umran Malik. The Jammu and Kashmir based pacer, who played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, took everyone by surprise as he troubled the batters with his blistering speed in IPL 2022. His performance even led to his Team India debut in June 2022 against Ireland.

However, the 24-year-old pacer also proved to be really expensive as many batters found numerous ways to score runs against him. As a result of that Umran lost his charm and featured in only eight matches in IPL 2023, followed by only one match in 2024.

Umran recently revealed that he would be missing out on the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament in Tamil Nadu, due to dengue.

“I would have loved to play in the tournament, but I’m just recovering from dengue,” Umran was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

Umran, who worked with former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan during the Ranji Trophy, stated that the less domestic appearance has resulted in his poor form.

“I was fully prepared that season, but the weather didn’t help. Then I was really looking forward to the IPL as I’d gained a lot in the months preceding the IPL. Unfortunately even that didn’t go the way I wanted. But it also gave me the time to work on things I wanted to in the practice sessions. I’ve definitely become a better bowler if you ask me. After the IPL, I injured my hamstring and just as I recovered I’m down with dengue,” said Umran.

“These days I’m bowling a lot with the new ball because I believe swing can make a huge difference at my pace. I want to learn a few things, especially how to formulate a plan and execute it. If you have that, then you will be better prepared to handle the challenges. When I’m bowling in a match, it is not about myself or what I do. I’ve to fit into the bowling group and their plans and compliment them,” he added.