Before India’s departure to Sri Lanka, the chief selector of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)- Ajit Agarkar, and the newly appointed head coach of the Indian team, Gautam Gambhir met the press and touched on the Test players of the blue brigade.
India will start their home season with the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, before hosting New Zealand for the three-match series. The year will end with their trip to Australia for the five-match Test series.
The red-ball players haven’t been in action in the longest format of the game for a long time, as they are being involved in the shortest format of the game for a long time, having participated in a Test series at home against England at the start of this year.
‘We haven’t discussed yet…’- Ajit Agarkar on Test players
The former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar has noted that some of the Test players of the Indian team are likely to be part of the first Duleep trophy game this season. The entire competition will be held between September 05 and 22 in Anantpur, just before the Blue Brigade starts their home season in mid-September.
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‘We haven’t discussed with Gautam yet – it’s not always easy – but there will certainly be enough players out of that squad that are likely to play the first (Duleep Trophy) game at least.’ Ajit Agarkar expressed during the pre-series press conference.
The veteran also spoke about discussing who would be the guys needed to play the game, as it won’t be easy for the players to be involved in these sorts of games in such a packed and long home season.
‘That’s the only game they can really play. We’ll sit down and discuss which guys really need to play. It’s nice for the competition if all your top players come and play.’ The BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar observed. ‘It is not easy with such a packed and long season, tough for the players if they have a week off somewhere to make them play. There will be some in the squad who will play.
During the last season, in the final of the tournament, in Bengaluru, South Zone faced West Zone, where the former captured a vital 75-run win. The likes of Hanuma Vihari who was the captain of SZ, Mayank Agarwal, the opener of the team along with their all-rounder Washington Sundar took part in the game.
From the current set-up of the Indian Test squad, Sarfaraz Khan wasn’t involved during the IPL, whereas Ravichandran Ashwin has been playing in the ongoing season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). Both of them are expected to make a return in the trophy, along with KL Rahul perhaps, who was out of the Test side against England due to injury.
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Since his superb performances in the ODI World Cup 2023, where he finished as the highest wicket-taker, Mohammad Shami hasn’t been in action for a long time, as Ajit Agarkar said that the goal is to fit the veteran pacer for the home Tests. Recently, in a video, it was revealed that the Uttar Pradesh-born has started bowling again at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
‘There are so many Tests coming up. In India, you don’t play three seamers in the XI but going forward we’ll need some depth and have conversations around it.’ He concluded.
For India to win their third consecutive Test series in Australia, they will need a full-fit Mohammad Shami in the bowling line-up along with Jasprit Bumrah and others.
