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The India National Cricket Team is currently in Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series. They have already won the 1st Test by a huge margin of 165 runs, and the second Test is set to start on Sunday. Ahead of the second game, the management has decided not to release the reserve players for the Duleep Trophy.
They showcased an amazing brand of cricket from the very first day of the first Test; they dominated in every aspect, with the spinners doing the job as Manav Suthar picked 10 wickets in the match and Devdutt Padikkal played a knock of 167-run which helped the Men in Blue win the Test comfortably at Galle.
India will not release reserve players for Duleep Trophy
Duleep Trophy 2026/2027 season begins on the same day as the second Test match on Sunday. It marks the beginning of the domestic season. Some players will not be featuring in the upcoming Test as well.
Auqib Nabi and Gurnoor Brar are the two cricketers who represent North Zone. India used only two pacers in the first game in the form of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, and they will play the same duo in the second match as well, with Brar and Nabi likely to be out.
Why will India not release reserve players?
The management believes in keeping them close to the team for workload monitoring rather than releasing them back to domestic zonal teams where they risk injury or fatigue before potential national selection needs. This can be one of the reasons that they are not being released from the squad.
Other than that, the team might also go with an additional fast bowler, keeping in mind the nature of the pitch in Colombo as it generally behaves as a traditional, well-balanced subcontinental track rather than a fast-bowling paradise. Pacers usually find some early movement or extra zip with the new ball on the first morning.
Auqib Nabi's performance
Auqib Nabi was not even picked in the squad; he was added as the replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the Test series citing a knee injury. The Jammu and Kashmir pacer was the leading wicket-taker in the last Ranji Trophy season and led the side to their maiden title but was not preferred as a first choice.
Gurnoor Brar has impressed in the ODI format, as he did not feature in the traditional format for the senior team, despite his good performances in the India A matches. The Punjab-based pacer starred for India A with a sensational 10-wicket match haul (10 for 145) against Sri Lanka A in July 2026 at Galle ahead of the official Test series.
India will look for a clean sweep in the Test series by winning the second Test match. They might have a shift in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-2027 points table.
