Star cricketer and India's Test captain Shubman Gill has reportedly been suffering an illness which has ruled him out of the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025.
Gill, who was named as the captain of North Zone squad, is now set to miss the entire season, and directly join the Indian team instead for the Asia Cup 2025, where he is also the vice-captain of the 15-member squad, with Suryakumar Yadav as the skipper.
Now in Gill's absence, Ankit Kumar, the star batter from Haryana, will be seen captaining North Zone. The squad also features the likes of India stars like Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Anshul Kamboj. Of these, Arshdeep and Rana are both set to join the Indian team for national duties after the first match of the season against East Zone, as both have been named in India's Asia Cup squad.
According to Cricbuzz, Gill is currently advised rest and is following the same at his residence in Chandigarh. Sources close to the development have now confirmed that the Fazilka-born will be missing the entire domestic tournament. The zonal selectors or even those from the national committee, however, are yet to officiate regarding Gill's absence from the tournament.
To fill the 25-year-old's void, North Zone selectors will add Shubham Rohilla to the squad. On the other hand, Gurnoor Brar and Anuj Thakral have been named as the possible replacements of Arshdeep and Harshit Rana in the North Zone set-up for the six-team event.
North Zone to face East Zone in first QF
Speaking of Duleep Trophy's schedule, North Zone are set to play their opening game in the first quarter-final against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. If they win this clash, they will be facing the mighty South Zone in the first semi-final encounter at the same venue, winning which will earn them a place in the summit clash in a five-day fixture.
North Zone squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Ankit Kumar (vice-captain), Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Shubham Khajuria, Nishant Sindhu, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Dagar, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Yudhvir Singh, Aaqib Nabi, Ankit Kalsi, Sahil Lotra, Kanhaiya Wadhawan
Stand-bys: Shubham Arora, Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, Divesh Sharma
