Rajat Patidar Named Central Zone Vice-Captain; Deepak Chahar Returns from Injury for Duleep Trophy

Rajat Patidar Named Central Zone Vice-Captain; Deepak Chahar Returns from Injury for Duleep Trophy

Rajat Patidar has been named vice-captain of the Central Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, while fast bowler Deepak Chahar is set to return to competitive cricket following an injury layoff.

Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who recently impressed in India’s series-levelling Test win at The Oval, will lead the Central Zone side. The team will begin its campaign against North East Zone on August 28 at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Chahar, 33, missed the latter part of IPL 2025 due to injury, but was recently seen bowling in the nets during India’s Test series in England. He will spearhead the pace attack alongside Khaleel Ahmed, who is also returning after cutting short his county stint with Essex due to personal reasons.

Kuldeep Yadav, who warmed the bench during the recent five-match Test series in England, will return to action leading the spin department. He will be supported by Vidarbha’s Harsh Dubey—who set a Ranji Trophy record with 69 wickets last season—and Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar.

The squad also features several in-form domestic performers. Vidarbha batter Yash Rathod, the top scorer in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy with 960 runs, and Danish Malewar, who starred in the final with scores of 153 and 73, have been rewarded for their performances. Uttar Pradesh captain Aryan Juyal, Madhya Pradesh offspinner Saransh Jain, and Chhattisgarh batter Sanjeet Desai also find places in the 15-member squad.

The Duleep Trophy returns to its traditional zonal format this season, with selections made by zonal committees consisting of representatives from each state association.

Central Zone Squad:

Dhruv Jurel (capt, wk), Rajat Patidar (vc), Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Kuldeep Yadav, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed

Stand-bys: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav

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