Rajat Patidar will continue to lead the Central Zone in the 2026-27 season of the competition as he aims to make a comeback into the Indian team after
leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their second consecutive Indian Premier League (IPL) title in the 2026 season. Patidar had captained the team to the title in the 2025-26 season. However, he will have a new vice-captain this time around, with Rinku Singh handed the top leadership role. Interestingly, he was not picked in the squad last season but has returned. The development comes after Rinku was appointed Ajinkya Rahane's deputy in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). It is worth noting that Dhruv Jurel was set to lead the side last year, but Patidar was handed the top job after an injury to the wicketkeeper batter. This time around Jurel has not been selected, but that could be down to the fact that he is part of the Indian Test team for the two series against Sri Lanka. Saranash Jain is the only player in the squad that is part of the Indian red-ball squad for the tour of the island nation. The 33-year-old off-spinner, who is a handy batter, got a maiden call-up to the national team after Washington Sundar missed out due to an injury. Harsh Dubey is also part of the squad, who was named in India's Test squad for the Afghanistan series in June. He also made his debut for India in the ODI series that followed and was part of the squad that travelled to Zimbabwe for a three-match T20I series. The Indian team will play two Tests in Sri Lanka with the second game scheduled to start on the same day as the quarter-finals of the Duleep Trophy (23rd August). However, the central zone has got a bye to the semi-final and will only start their campaign on 30th August. The competition will take place at the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Centre of Excellence. Central Zone Squad for Duleep Trophy 2026: Rajat Patidar (C), Rinku Singh (VC), Aryan Juyal (wicketkeeper), Saransh Jain, Aman Mokhade, Kunal Chandela, Zeeshan Ansari, Aryan Pandey, Arshad Khan, Ayush Pandey, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathod (wk), Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhute
