Rajasthan Royals star named captain, Kuldeep Yadav picked as Central Zone squad for Duleep Trophy announced

After spending the entire five-match Test series in England on the bench, star left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav is set to make his competitive return in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025, where he will spearhead the spin attack of the Central Zone.

Kuldeep Yadav will be joined by the Vidarbha left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey and Rajasthan’s left-arm spinner Manav Suthar in the Central Zone’s spin department for the upcoming tournament.

In the last season, Harsh Dubey had created history by taking 69 wickets, the most ever in a single Ranji Trophy season, and played a vital role in Vidarbha's title triumph. Manav Suthar will add further variety to the spin attack.

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Dhruv Jurel to lead Central Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who stepped up for India at The Oval to help level the England Test series 2-2 in Rishabh Pant’s absence, has been appointed captain of the Central Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025.

Rajat Patidar, the experienced batter from Madhya Pradesh and RCB captain, will be Dhruv Jurel’s deputy for the Central Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025.

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Khaleel Ahmed to lead Central Zone pace attack

Khaleel Ahmed, who recently returned from England after ending his county stint with Essex for personal reasons, will spearhead the pace attack.

Deepak Chahar has also been named in the squad alongside Khaleel. The 33-year-old swing specialist missed a couple of IPL 2025 matches for the Mumbai Indians due to injury, but has since recovered and was seen bowling in India’s training sessions at Lord’s and The Oval.

Central Zone’s batting lineup has been bolstered by star players like Yash Rathod, who finished as the top scorer in the 2024–25 Ranji season with 960 runs in 18 innings at an average of over 50, and Vidarbha’s Danish Malewar, who was instrumental in their success in the Ranji Trophy last season.

Kuldeep Sen named as stand-by player

Aryan Juyal, captain of Uttar Pradesh and a consistent performer, is also included in the squad. Chhattisgarh star Sanjeet Desai and Madhya Pradesh’s off-spinner Saransh Jain add depth to the squad. Fast bowler Kuldeep Sen has been named among the standby players.

The team will be coached by Usman Ghani, who guided Vidarbha to their recent Ranji Trophy title, and will be their head coach in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025.

Notably, Central Zone will open their campaign against Northeast Zone on August 28 at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Here's Central Zone Squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025:

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

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

Notably, the Duleep Trophy returns to its traditional zonal format this season. Last year, teams were selected by the BCCI’s central selection panel.

This time, teams are being picked by zonal selectors, with each zone’s selection committee including one representative from every state association in the region.

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