North Zone captain Shubman Gill is likely to miss the upcoming Duleep Trophy. He is reported to be ill and will join the Asia Cup squad. He was anyway in the squad for the opening game against East Zone. Ankit Kumar will lead the side in his absence.
India Test captain Shubman Gill was named the North Zone leader for the upcoming Duleep Trophy. However, his availability remains uncertain at the moment. The 25-year-old was expected to feature in the opening match against East Zone before joining the India squad for the Asia Cup. However, he is reported to be ill at the moment and will miss the game against East Zone, starting August 28.ย
It is noted that the youngster hasnโt joined the squad in Bengaluru for the zonal tournament and will directly join the national camp for the Asia Cup. One of Arshdeep Singhโs videos, who is also part of the North Zone squad, indicated that Gill will indeed miss the tournament, as he confirmed that Ankit Kumar will lead the team. The left-arm pacer confirmed the same on the social media platform Snapchat.ย
Who is Ankit Kumar?
Ankit was named the vice-captain of the squad and was expected to lead the team in Gillโs absence, which was subject to qualification for the semi-final. The 27-year-old hails from Haryana and has played 36 first class games so far in his career. He made 2151 runs at an average of 37.08 and has five centuries to his name in red-ball cricket. He is also a part-time off-break bowler, but barely rotates his arm.
Apart from that, several other stars are part of the North Zone squad. In the batting department, the focus will be on Ayush Badoni and Yash Dhull, while in the bowling, Harshit Rana and Anshul Kamboj will be under pressure as they will hope to seal their spot in the national team for the home international season.
North Zone Squad: Shubman Gill, Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sindhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan.