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The Duleep Trophy team for the North Zone have been announced on Monday afternoon. As there have been some big names that are missing from the squad, Kanhaiya Wadhawan and Ayush Badoni are the new leaders for the Zonal side, with the former set to lead the side and Badoni has been handed the vice-captaincy role for the upcoming season.
The Duleep Trophy is a multi-day red-ball tournament, which is scheduled to begin on August 23, 2026, and runs until September 10, 2026. North Zone is set to play in the quarter-final against West Zone at BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru. The winner of the match will face the previous year’s runners-up, South Zone, who have pre-qualified.
Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh misses out on North Zone squad
There have been some shocking exclusions from the North Zone squad, as Abhishek Sharma has not been named in the squad. Apart from him, his Punjab teammate Prabhsimran Singh is also missing from the team. Recently, Abhishek Sharma smacked 233 runs in an Inter-District game in Punjab; even after that, he was overlooked.
Prabhsimran Singh has a decent red-ball record as he has featured in 29 first-class (red-ball) matches, scoring 1,599 runs at an average of 36.34, including 5 centuries and a highest score of 202. He even got a maiden call-up for the Zimbabwe series but did not play a single game.
Abhishek Sharma's recent form
Abhishek Sharma has scored 1,071 runs at an average of 30.60, including one century and five half-centuries across 37 innings in 27 Ranji Trophy matches, which is a decent red-ball record. With his recent form, he has not been selected, and India also plays West Indies in September, so he will look to prepare for the T20Is.
Abhishek Sharma has been struggling with form in 2026 T20Is. He had an average of 18 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and scored one fifty against New Zealand in the final. He failed to open his innings three consecutive times in the tournament, and in the recent UK tour (Ireland and England), he failed and also failed to score runs in Zimbabwe.
Arshdeep Singh named in the North Zone squad
The squad has comprised players from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. Four players from DDCA have been named in the squad: Sanat Sangwan, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull and Ayush Doseja. The defending champions of the Ranji Trophy, Jammu and Kashmir, have the most with 6 players in the squad.
Kanhaiya Wadhawan, opener Qamran Iqbal, all-rounder Abdul Samad, left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq, pacer Sunil Kumar and fast bowler Yudhvir Singh were included from the squad of the defending champions. Apart from that, there have been experienced India National Cricket Team pacers, Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep Singh, in the squad.
North Zone squad for Duleep Trophy: Sanat Sangwan (DDCA), Qamran Iqbal (JKCA), Yash Dhull (DDCA), Ayush Doseja (DDCA), Abdul Samad (JKCA), Ayush Badoni (Vice-Captain, DDCA), Kanhaiya Wadhawan (Captain, JKCA), Nishant Sindhu (HCA), Arjun Sharma (SSCB), Abid Mushtaq (JKCA), Arshdeep Singh (PCA), Sunil Kumar (JKCA), Anshul Kamboj (HCA), Yudhvir Singh (JKCA), Nikhil Kashyap (HCA).
