Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead as West Zone squad announced for Duleep Trophy 2026

Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead a strong 15-member West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2026.

The Duleep Trophy 2026 is scheduled to take place from August 23 to September 10. Named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji, this competition is played between teams representing different geographical zones of India. There have been a few exceptions when the tournament was played between teams named India A, B, C, and D, but it is usually contested by the zonal teams.

Recently, for the Duleep Trophy 2026, the West Zone announced its squad on Monday after a meeting of the zonal selection committee. Since the West Zone comprises Mumbai, Maharashtra, Baroda, Gujarat, and Saurashtra, players representing these teams in the Ranji Trophy are selected for the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy.

The selection committee has announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as the captain of the West Zone. Their captain last year was Shardul Thakur, under whom the team managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition but failed to qualify for the final, as the Central Zone progressed ahead of them due to a better first-innings lead.

For the upcoming competition, the baton has been passed to Gaikwad, who has experience of captaining his team in the Ranji Trophy as well as in the IPL.

Here’s the full West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2026

The team features six players from Mumbai: Shams Mulani, who has also been named the vice-captain of the team, off-spin bowling all-rounder Tanush Kotian, seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, another seamer Tushar Deshpande, and batters Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan.

There are three players from the Maharashtra Cricket Association: opening batter Prithvi Shaw, left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary, and the captain of the team, Gaikwad.

Only two players from Baroda made it into the squad: Shivalik Sharma and Atit Sheth.

From Gujarat, there are three players: wicketkeeper-batter Urvil Patel, Jaymeet Patel, and Siddharth Desai.

Only one player from Saurashtra made the cut, and he is wicketkeeper-batter Harvik Desai.

The selectors have also named six standby players in case of any injuries to the main squad. They are Jay Gohil, Aarya Desai, Arshin Kulkarni, Mahesh Pithiya, Vishal Jayswal, and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.

West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2026.

West Zone squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Shams Mulani (vice-captain), Harvik Desai (wk), Urvil Patel (wk), Jaymeet Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Shivalik Sharma, Siddharth Desai, Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Atit Sheth, Mukesh Chaudhary, Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur, and Tushar Deshpande.

Standby Players: Jay Gohil, Aarya Desai, Arshin Kulkarni, Mahesh Pithiya, Vishal Jayswal, and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.

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