Duleep Trophy 2024: Five Players who will miss first round of the tournament

BCCI is all set to kick off the Indian domestic red ball season with the commencement of the Duleep Trophy 2024, starting on Thursday, September 5. Four teams, namely Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D, are all set to compete with the zonal format being discontinued.

Though prominent names are participating in the first round of the competition namely KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer, some of the top players are all set to miss out due to different reasons.

That said, let's take a look at five prominent names that are missing the first round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 season.

1. Mohammed Siraj

India's mainstream red-ball pacer Mohammed Siraj is all set to miss the first round of the Duleep Trophy as he has been suffering from an illness. Unfortunately, Siraj is not expected to be fit in time for the opening fixture.

Navdeep Saini will replace the Hyderabad pacer in the Team B squad. It would be interesting to see how the injury-prone Saini will fare in this opening fixture. He was earlier part of the Indian Test squad on India's tour of Australia in 2020-21.

2. Umran Malik

Team C speedster Umran Malik is the other prominent name who's going to miss the opening round of the major red-ball competition due to an illness. He will be replaced by Pondicherry medium pacer Gaurav Yadav.

Interestingly, Gaurav was Pondicherry's leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season with 41 scalps from 11 innings. He concluded the season as the second leading wicket-taker behind R Sai Kishore, who scalped 53 wickets.

3. Ravindra Jadeja

Though the Indian selectors named all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the Team B squad initially, he was later released due to undisclosed reasons. Interestingly, the board hasn't named any replacement for the star all-rounder.

In Jadeja's absence, this will be an ideal opportunity for other spinners in the squad to step up and excel. Team B has Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, and R Sai Kishore in their spin line-up.

4. Suryakumar Yadav

Mumbai's top and middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav will miss out on the opening fixture for India C, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, due to a hand injury he suffered during the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Coimbatore.

Notably, Surya's only Test so far came against Australia in 2023. He has been advised to rest and is currently at the NCA in Bengaluru.

5. Ishan Kishan

Jharkhand keeper-batter Ishan Kishan has to wait for more time before he makes his first-class return as he has been struggling with a hamstring niggle. He was recently part of the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Tamil Nadu.

Though there is no replacement announced for the keeper, backup keeper KS Bharat will take up the role in the Indian D line-up. They will lock horns with Ruturaj Gaikwad's India C in their opening fixture.