India's Duleep Trophy: Pant's early boost, search for top-order backups, and Bumrah-Siraj's partner

Following BCCI's decision to make it mandatory for all centrally-contracted players to participate in domestic tournaments, the Duleep Trophy has seen a remarkable resurgence in 2024. For years, the historic tournament had struggled to maintain its relevance in the face of the popularity of ODI cricket and the IPL. However, with top players now required to take part, the excitement surrounding the Duleep Trophy has reached new heights. Experts are discussing the tournament on talk shows and in opinion pieces, while fans are eagerly purchasing tickets for the opening round of matches set to kick off in Bengaluru and Anantapur on Thursday. The renewed interest in the red-ball competition is a testament to the impact of BCCI's decision and the value of domestic cricket in nurturing talent and promoting the traditional format of the game.

However, besides the tournament featuring the big names, another major aspect behind it gathering curiosity in the Indian cricket fraternity is that it will help the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee in picking the Test squad for the upcoming home series against Bangladesh, starting September 19, and New Zealand (in October-November). This implies that the Duleep Trophy won't only serve as a practice tournament for the certainties, but also a chance for the fringe options to push their case for a selection.

Ahead of the start of the 2024 Duleep Trophy, we take a look at what the selectors will be expecting from the tournament...

Given Jaiswal's phenomenal start to his Test career, which includes the record-scripting show in the England home series earlier this year, he is a certainty to accompany Rohit as a first-choice opener for India across the two home series and the tour of Australia later this year. However, with a long Test calendar ahead, India will be wary of injury threats and hence would want to keep backup options ready.

Shubman Gill and KL Rahul could have been the options, but both decided to opt for a different role over the course of the one year, with the former now featuring at the No. 3 spot, while the latter adapted himself as a middle-order option.

This leaves a major opportunity in the hands of Devdutt Padikkal, who made his debut earlier this year in the Dharamsala Test against England and even scored a half-century, albeit batting at No. 4. There is also Abhimanyu Easwaran and Ruturaj Gaikwad, both of whom are named captains for one of the four Duleep Trophy squads. Both earned their maiden call-ups in Tests last year, but failed to bag an appearance.

Another candidate to challenge the aforementioned trio is Tamil Nadu's B Sudharsan, who was on the verge of making an India Test debut ahead of Padikkal in Dharamsala if it hadn't been for an ill-timed injury shortly after his international debut in the South Africa ODI series, where he scored back-to-back fifties. Sudharsan heads into the tournament on the back of a maiden ton for Surrey in the County Championship.

With Rohit, Jaiswal, Gill and Virat Kohli forming the top 4 (in order), the major selection headache pertaining to the batting line-up will revolve around the middle-order. Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel did make an impressive debut in the England series earlier this year, but selectors will also keep a keen eye on KL Rahul, who was out of that contest due to injury, and Shreyas Iyer, who was dropped from the line-up back then.

Not to forget, Rajat Patidar, who incurred a forgettable start to his Test career in the England series, will be hoping to make amends and earn his position back in the Indian team.

As many as five wicketkeepers - Pant, Ishan Kishan, Rahul, Jurel and KS Bharat - were pitted against each other for the two likely keeping spots in the Indian Test lineup when the Duleep Trophy squads were announced last month. However, Pant, who last featured in the format in December 2022 before a car accident left him on the sidelines, gained an early boost after Ishan, who scored a stunning century in Buchi Babu pre-season red-ball event last month, was ruled out with an injury, while Rahul is unlikely to don the gloves neither in the Duleep Trophy nor for India in home Tests. And with Bharat having struggled to prove his worth during his seven appearances for India, a decent show for Pant could see him emerge as the frontline option ahead of Jurel.

Ashwin has been rested for the Duleep Trophy, while Ravindra Jadeja withdrew from the opening round of the tournament. Axar Patel has been the direct backup option as a spin all-rounder, even in recent times, a primary option, as seen in the T20 World Cup earlier this summer. Earlier, there was Washington Sundar, who recently made a strong comeback in the white-ball series in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in July. Meanwhile, among specialist spin options, Kuldeep Yadav has been a frontrunner. However, Duleep Trophy could offer all-rounder R Sai Kishore, the highest wicket-taker of the 2023-24 Ranji season (53), and specialist spinner Saurabh Kumar, who had earned a maiden call-up in the England Tests, an opportunity earn a place in the Indian squad.

This will be a major area of focus, with selectors having an eye on the Australia tour later this year. For the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, selectors will want to keep options handy so that they can manage the workload of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who will be the main fast bowlers amid Mohammed Shami's absence. But even with the latter's return during the New Zealand series, where he is slated to play one match, the team management would want to keep a fourth and fifth seamer ready for the conditions in Australia.

The Duleep Trophy, hence, will offer selectors a plethora of options to select from, with the likes of left-armers in Arshdeep Singh, Yash Dayal and Khaleel Ahmed participating along with right-arm quicks in Akash Deep, Mukhes Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Avesh Khan.