India Star Shubman Gill to Lead North Zone in Duleep Trophy

In a significant development, star Indian batter Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain of the North Zone team for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, a prestigious domestic cricket tournament. This comes on the heels of Gill's impressive performance during India's recent tour of England, where he amassed 754 runs at an average of 75.4, including four centuries.

The 15-member North Zone squad led by Gill also features several other notable names, such as Anshul Kamboj, who made his Test debut against England during the same tour, as well as Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, who were part of the Indian squad in England but did not get a chance to play.

The timing of the Duleep Trophy, which runs from August 28 to September 15, poses an interesting challenge, as it clashes with the Asia Cup scheduled to begin on September 9 in the United Arab Emirates. In the event that Gill is selected for India's T20I team for the Asia Cup, Services' Shubham Rohilla will replace him in the North Zone squad. Similarly, if Arshdeep and Harshit are picked for the continental tournament, they will be replaced by Punjab's Gurnoor Brar and Haryana's Anuj Thakral, respectively.

This domestic competition, which is returning to the zonal format this year, provides a valuable opportunity for Gill to gain further experience in captaincy at the First-Class level, having already led in 10 such matches.