Ruturaj Gaikwad named captain as West Zone announce squad for Duleep Trophy

The Duleep Trophy is all set to kick off on August 23, and ahead of the new season, the teams have started to reveal their squads for the event. West Zone joined the bandwagon as they named their squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy season. 

In a major development, star India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named skipper of the West Zone for the tournament. It is worth noting that Shams Mulani has been named Gaikwad’s deputy in the squad, with the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shivalik Sharma, Musheer and Sarfaraz Khan being a part of the squad as well. 

Harvik Desai and Urvil Patel have been picked as the two wicket-keepers in the side. The batting unit has a unique blend of youth and experience, and West Zone will look to put in their best performance in the upcoming tournament. 

As for the bowling attack, the likes of Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, and many other names will look to put in their best performance and move forward into the tournament and potentially take on South Zone in the second



semi-final. 

Speaking of West Zone’s schedule, the team will kick off their Duleep Trophy campaign by taking on North Zone. The two sides will meet at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on August 23rd. The teams will take on each other in the second quarter-final. 

It is worth noting that the winner of the clash will go on to face South Zone in the second semi-final from August 30. On the other hand, the first semi-final will see Central Zone taking on the winner of the first quarter-final, which will be held between East Zone and North East Zone on August 23rd. 

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

Standby players: Arya Desai – Gujarat, Jay Gohil – Saurashtra, Arshin Kulkarni – Maharashtra, Mahesh Pithiya – Baroda, Rajvardhan Hangargekar – Maharashtra, Vishal Jayswa – Gujarat