Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were not included in Duleep Trophy squads.
The Duleep Trophy 2024 will feature four teams India A, India B, India C, and India D. Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer were named captains of Team A, Team B, Team C, and Team D respectively.
This tournament will be a predecessor to India's home Test season, in which they host Bangladesh for two matches and then New Zealand for three.
Multiple India team regulars like Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and others will turn out in the Duleep Trophy, but veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah have been exempted.
While it was widely expected that Bumrah would be permitted to extend his vacation if he so desired, there were rumors that Kohli and Rohit would make rare appearances in domestic cricket to prepare for the forthcoming home Test series against Bangladesh.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Jay Shah, has stated that the aim is to ensure that Rohit and Kohli are fit for India's five-match Test series in Australia later this year.
"Apart from them, everyone else is playing. You should appreciate that. One must note that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are playing in the Buchi Babu tournament. We should not insist on players like Rohit and Virat to play in the Duleep Trophy. They will risk injury. If you have noticed, in Australia and England, every international player does not play domestic cricket. We have to treat the players with respect,” Jay Shah told the Times of India.
Keeper-batter Rishabh Pant will also make his red-ball return with the Duleep Trophy. Pant last played a red ball game in December 2022 in a Test against Bangladesh. He then met with a horrific accident a week later.
He made his comeback to international cricket with the 2024 T20 World Cup, after playing IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals.