Kohli, Rohit exempted as Gill, Pant, Rahul, Jadeja set to play Duleep Trophy
New Delhi, Aug 14: Senior stars including skipper Rohit Sharma, premier batter Virat Kohli, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and leading spinner R Ashwin received exemptions as the national selectors struck a fine balance between domestic performers and potential talent while picking up four squads for the Duleep Trophy starting September 5 in Bengaluru.
The tournament will feature international stars such as Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, leading all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and pacer Mohammed Siraj.
T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, who had played one Test against Australia in 2023 has also been picked. Apart from Surya, the others have confirmed slot in the team.
Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who was part of India's T20 World Cup winning team, will also be featuring in the tournament, making it his first red-ball assignment after coming back from that horrific car accident in 2022.
Also back in business will be another left-handed keeper Ishan Kishan, who was removed from BCCI's central contracts list after he skipped the Ranji Trophy tournament last season giving priority to cash-rich IPL.
Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, both of whom played vital role in India's home series win against England are also in the mix. Keepers Aryan Juyal and Abhishek Porel are also part of the various squads.
India players were supposed to play only one match and hence Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah and Ashwin were given exemptions. They had the choice to opt out as first reported by PTI on July 16.
Suryakumar is part of Team C, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, which also has two exciting young pacers -- Anshul Khamboj and Himanshu Chauhan, who would be under the scanner of the selectors following their exploits last season.
Mohammed Siraj and Jadeja will turn up for Team B which also comprises Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Washington Sundar, while Shubman Gill will captain Team A, which consists of Kuldeep, KL Rahul, Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag among others.
Apart from Parag, Goalpara-born Akash Sengupta is the other cricketer from Assam to feature in the tournament. He is part of Team D, which will be led by Shreyas lyer with Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh as other teammates.
Pace sensation Mayank Yadav, who is recovering from lower abdominal injury, is yet to regain fitness and will miss the event. Nitish Kumar Reddy’s participation is also subject to fitness.
India are slated to play two Test matches against Bangladesh – from September 19 at Chennai and from September 27 at Kanpur.
"The athletes who will be selected to represent India for the home Test series against Bangladesh will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a release.
The Duleep Trophy was earlier scheduled to kick-off with two sets of first round matches at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh from September 5, but now one of those games has been shifted to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here to reduce the logistical inconveniences.
The four squads for the first round of the tournament:
Team A: Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.
Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (WK).
Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (WK), Sandeep Warrier.
Team D: Shreyas lyer (C), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (WK), Saurabh Kumar.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
