India’s test captain Shubman Gill has been named as the North Zone Squad captain for the Duleep Trophy 2025, which is set to begin later this month.

Pacers like Anshul Kamboj and Arshdeep Singh, who were part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, were named in the squad along with Harshit Rana, who made his test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year.

With the nearing Asia Cup 2025, there will be chances of players like Gill, Arshdeep Singh or Harshit Rana likely to be picked in the India’s squad, and hence, Shubham Rohilla, Gurnoor Brar and Anuj Thakral will replace them for Duleep Trophy.

The Asia Cup is set to begin on September 9 and will overlap with Duleep Trophy which will begin on August 28.

Ankit Kumar who was the top scorer of Haryana with 574 runs at an average of 59 in the Ranji Trophy previous edition has been appointed North Zone’s Captain.

His fellow team-mater Left arm spin bowling all-rounder also found a spot in the squad. Apart from Rana and Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni has also been included.

Five Jammu & Kashmir players including Auqib Nabi, Shubham Khajuria, Ravi Chauhan and Nishunk Birla are named as standbys.

The Duleep Trophy has returned to its traditional zonal format a year after being contested as a four-team tournament. Notably, the 2024-25 edition of the tournament featured four teams India A, India B, India C and India D.

India A were crowned champions of the tournament after they have finished at the top of the points table with two wins from three matches, having 12 points to their name.

However, the four-team format was given a thumbs down at the recent BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Annual General Meeting.

The tournament will be returning to their original format where six teams from as many zones – Central, West, North, South and North East are taking part in the tournament.

Hence, the BCCI has decided to bring back the zonal format to give fair opportunities to all the players.

North Zone Squad: Shubman Gill (C), Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar (Vice-Capt), Ayush Badoni, Yash DHULL, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, ARSHDEP SINGH, ARSHPEP SINGH, Harashit Rana, Anshul kambojAuqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk)

Standby Players: Shubham Arora, Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, DIVESH SHARMA