Overview
- East Zone won the Duleep Trophy on Thursday after securing a first-innings lead, ending a 13-year wait for the title at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
- Ishan Kishan scored 270 and followed with 80 for a match aggregate of 350, the highest-ever total in a Duleep Trophy match and a strong case for a Test recall.
- Mohammed Shami took key wickets in the final during his 100th first-class match, and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly publicly defended Shami’s place in selection conversations.
- Pacer Harshit Rana was ruled out after a rectus femoris strain sustained during rehab and has been replaced by Yash Thakur in India’s squads for the three T20Is vs Afghanistan and the Asian Games.
- With the Afghanistan T20I series starting September 13 and the Asian Games to follow, selectors face quick format switches that will test workload decisions and short-term selection priorities.