Rajat Patidar to lead Central Zone's Duleep Trophy title defence; Rinku Singh named vice-captain

Patidar led Central Zone to their first Duleep Trophy title in a decade last season and played a decisive role in the successful campaign. The Madhya Pradesh batter finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer, accumulating 382 runs and scoring a century in the final against South Zone in Bengaluru. Rinku Singh, meanwhile, returns to the Central Zone setup after missing out on selection last season. The Uttar Pradesh batter has now been handed a leadership role as Patidar’s vice-captain.

Vidarbha opener Aman Mokhade has earned a place following an impressive Ranji Trophy campaign last season. The 25-year-old scored 760 runs in 11 innings, although Vidarbha narrowly missed out on qualification for the knockout stage. Mokhade was subsequently selected for India A’s unofficial Test tour of Sri Lanka, where he scored 49 during a 10-wicket victory in Galle. His Vidarbha teammate Yash Rathod has also been included in the Central Zone squad.

Vidarbha pacers Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhute are expected to lead the pace attack alongside Madhya Pradesh seam-bowling all-rounder Arshad Khan. India left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey will be Central Zone’s leading spin option, while the selectors have continued to back Uttar Pradesh wrist-spinner Zeeshan Ansari.

Ansari had been away from first-class cricket for nearly six years before recently returning to the red-ball format. Despite his limited recent experience, the 26-year-old has remained on the national selectors’ radar. He was picked as a net bowler for India’s home Test against Afghanistan in June before travelling with the India A squad for the unofficial Test series in Sri Lanka. Ansari, however, went wicketless in the second unofficial Test.

Aryan Juyal and Kunal Singh Rathod are the two wicketkeeping options in the squad. Amandeep Khare, Mayank Mishra, Saurabh Rawat, Bhargav Merai, Kunal Yadav, and Kumar Kartikeya have been named as stand-by players.

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Stand-by players: Amandeep Khare, Mayank Mishra, Saurabh Rawat, Bhargav Merai, Kunal Yadav and Kumar Kartikeya.

Support staff: Nikhil Doru (head coach), Manish Jha (assistant coach), Deshraj Chouhan (physio), Chandrashekhar Rao (video analyst), Mohit Kumar (masseur), Mayank Agrawal (trainer) and Zuffri Zakeria (manager).

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