Duleep Trophy | All eyes on Shreyas as West meets Central

The omission of Shreyas Iyer from the India T20 squad for the upcoming Asia Cup caused considerable furore and debate. Shreyas was expected to add weight to India’s middle-order, but the selectors thought otherwise.

Having missed the flight to the United Arab Emirates, the Mumbai batter finds himself in the less glamorous domestic circles. Shreyas is the main attraction in the West Zone line-up, which takes on Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here on Thursday.

This will mark Shreyas’ first competitive appearance since leading Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 final. Shreyas will have young southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal for company in the West Zone dressing room. Like Shreyas, Jaiswal did not make the cut for the Asia Cup, and will look to pile on the runs to stay on the selectors’ radar.

The likes of Rajat Patidar, Shubham Sharma and Danish Malewar lie in wait on the other side. The trio made merry with big scores in the quarterfinal against a weak North East Zone.

Central Zone will be without left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has been called up for India duty.

In the other semifinal, South Zone — beneficiary of a direct last-four spot alongside West Zone — takes on North Zone. Karnataka’s Devdutt Padikkal and Tamil Nadu’s N. Jagadeesan spearhead the batting unit, backed by Kerala’s Mohammed Azharuddeen and Salman Nizar.

Seamer V. Koushik, who recently shifted allegiance to Goa from Karnataka, could prove to be a handful with the new ball.

South Zone will be wary of North Zone fast bowler Auqib Nabi, who took four wickets in four balls in the previous round against East Zone. Ankit Kumar, Ayush Badoni and Yash Dhull, all of whom stuck gold against East Zone, form the backbone of a strong batting line-up.