BCCI wants to include Indian test specialists for domestic tournaments; Exception for Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah – Reports

India will play Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home in next few months.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has made it clear that they want the star cricketers to be playing in domestic cricket as well. However, there will be exceptions for certain cricketers, but domestic cricket should be made a priority by Team India cricketers.

The only exceptions to this rule are veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah. India is set to host Bangladesh and New Zealand in their home season. Bangladesh will play 2 Tests and 3 T20Is in September-October. New Zealand, meanwhile, will play three Tests in October-November.

The BCCI would like the other Test specialists to play at least one if not two, Duleep Trophy games in August as a warm-up for the Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

“This time there is no zonal selection committee for the Duleep Trophy. Only the national selection committee will pick Duleep teams. All Test team contenders will be picked. For Rohit, Virat, and Bumrah, it will be their choice if they want to play or not,” a BCCI source was quoted by India Today.

Hardik Pandya set to lead India in Sri Lanka T20Is, but will skip the ODI series

On the other hand, speculations are rife on who will captain India on the tour of Sri Lanka in T20Is and ODIs. Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain of the Indian team in T20 World Cup 2024 and with Rohit Sharma having retired from the format, Pandya is primed to captain India in T20Is.

He is most likely to be the captain of the Indian team in the Sri Lanka T20Is which will be played from July 27 to 30 in Pallekele, followed by the ODIs from August 2 to 7 in Colombo.

While it is unclear who will be Pandya’s deputy, the choice is between Shubman Gill, who recently captained India to a 4-1 series victory over Zimbabwe, and Suryakumar Yadav, who led the team in the T20Is against South Africa last year.

However, the report also stated that Hardik Pandya will not be playing the DOI series after leading India in T20Is, as he had asked BCCI permission to withdraw for personal reasons.

“The break from ODIs is for very personal reasons. Hardik doesn’t have any fitness issue as is being floated in the media,” the report stated.

For the ODIs, KL Rahul, who led in the previous ODI series in South Africa, and Gill are competing for the captaincy.