India batter Shreyas Iyer has expressed his availability to take part in the forthcoming Duleep Trophy for the West Zone side. The Duleep Trophy is scheduled to kick start from August 28 and the zonal selection is scheduled to take place on Friday afternoon in Mumbai.
Apart from Iyer, Mumbai’s middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan, and allrounder Shivam Dubey too have confirmed their availability to play and have informed the Mumbai Cricket Association about it.
“Iyer has informed us that he is available to play in the Duleep Trophy. Other players like Sarfaraz, Shivam Dubey and Tushar Deshpande have confirmed their availability,” a source in the MCA confirmed to The Indian Express.
Iyer has played 14 Tests for India and scored one century to go with five fifties, but he hasn’t played the longest format internationally since February 2024 against England. He was, however, an integral part of the Indian team that lifted the 50-overs Champions Trophy title in Dubai earlier this year.
More recently, under Iyer’s captaincy, Punjab Kings entered the final of the Indian Premier League’s 2025 season, where they lost to the Royal Challengers of Bangalore in Ahmedabad. Iyer wasn’t picked for the Indian Test tour to England that is currently underway, as the selectors decided to go with Karun Nair, who had prolific returns in domestic cricket more recently.
However, it’s not clear whether the selection committee will pick the players who are part of the Indian Test match team, which is currently playing against England. The current Indian players have been away from home for the past four months, and they could be in need of a well-deserved break.
It is understood that West Zone selectors will not pick Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur, as they will be given rest to prepare for the long domestic season that is further ahead of the Duleep Trophy. The South Zone selection committee, which recently named Tilak Varma as skipper for their side, too had decided not to include KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar and Mohd Siraj.
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The 2025–26 domestic season will begin with the Duleep Trophy (August 28, 2025) and conclude with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy (April 3, 2026). The Ranji Trophy season is set to begin from October 15, with Phase 1 going up until 19 November and Phase 2 of the season (Elite) extending from 22 January 2026 to 1 February.
