Duleep Trophy 2019-20: Shubman Gill, Priyank Panchal and Faiz Fazal named captains as domestic cricket's curtain-raiser begins on 17 August

New Delhi: Duleep Trophy, the traditional curtain-raiser of India’s domestic cricket season, will begin in Bengaluru on 17 August and will run till 8 September. Like last year, the competition will be played among three teams — India Blue, India Green, and India Red. India Blue will be led by 19-year-old Shubman Gill, considered by many as the next big thing in Indian cricket. Gill, an Under-19 World Cup-winner who has played two seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and two ODIs for India, will lead the 15-member squad consisting of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Gopal, Jalaj Saxena, among others.

India Red - Priyank Panchal (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Ishan Kishan (WK),
Hapreet Singh Bhatia, Mahipal Lomror, Aditya Sarwate, Akshay Wakhare, Varun Aaron, Ronit More,
Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Warrier, Ankit Kalsi

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 6, 2019

Gill was in good form in the recently-concluded India A’s tour to West Indies, where he scored three half-centuries against West Indies A in the one-dayers. He was also part of the ‘A’ team that played Sri Lanka A at home this year, and admitted to being disappointed after failing to make the cut for India’s ongoing tour in the Caribbean.

India Blue - Shubman Gill (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, Ricky Bhui, Anmolpreet Singh, Ankeet Bawne, Snell Patel (WK), Shreyas Gopal, Saurabh Kumar, Jalaj Saxena,
Tushar Deshpande, Basil Thampi, Aniket Chouhdary, Diwesh Pathania, Ashutosh Amar

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 6, 2019

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Like Gill, Panchal has been a regular feature in India A side, and scored a match-winning 160 in Belgaum in the four-dayer against Sri Lanka A that the hosts won by an innings and 205 runs. Panchal will lead a formidable 14-member India Red squad that includes Abhimanyu Easwaran, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Ishan Kishan, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, among others. India Red, has also been in good form: against Sri Lanka A, his 160 in Belgaum helped India A win the four-dayer by an innings and 205 runs. More recently, in the second four-dayer in the Caribbean, Panchal hit 58 and 68 in a seven-wicket win. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who scored 233 in the same first-class match against Sri Lanka A in Belgaum and has opened often with Panchal for India A this year, is a part of the India Red ranks too - a 14-man squad, as opposed to the 15-man line-ups Blue and Green have. Faiz Fazal will lead India Green’s 15-man squad that includes youngsters like Rahul Chahar — currently with the senior team in Caribbean — and Ishan Porel, who was Gill’s teammate in the U-19 World Cup-winning team. The presence of Dhruv Shorey, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, and Ankit Rajpoot give Greens a well-rounded look.