Multiple India cricket team stars, including Test captain Shubman Gill, missed the opening matches of the Duleep Trophy 2025. The red-ball tournament, which marks the start of the 2025/26 season, saw North Zone square off with East Zone while North East Zone locked horns with Central Zone in Quarterfinal 1 and 2 respectively. Among the notable absentees were Gill, Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran among others.
Absentees in Duleep Trophy 2025 opener
As per ESPNCricinfo, Gill – who was supposed to captain North Zone – has missed the contest against East Zone due to an illness. The report states that despite missing the match, the Indian Test captain is expected to report to the BCCI’s CoE in Bengaluru soon ahead of the Asia Cup 2025. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel, who was supposed to lead Central Zone, has missed the match after reportedly complaining of pain in the groin.
Ankit Kumar is leading North Zone in the absence of Gill while RCB & MP captain Rajat Patidar is in-charge of the Central Zone in the opening round matches of Duleep Trophy 2025.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was named as captain of East Zone after Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the opening tie, misses the contest due to fever. As a result, Riyan Parag has replaced him as skipper.
North Zone were put into bat first after East Zone skipper Parag won the toss. On the other hand, North East Zone won the toss and opted to field first in Quarterfinal 2 of Duleep Trophy against Central Zone on Thursday.
While Gill finished as India’s leading run-getter in the recently concluded IND vs ENG series, Jurel kept wickets in Rishabh Pant’s absence in the 4th and the 5th Test. Parag and Patidar were last seen in action in IPL 2025. Easwaran, who was included in India’s Test squad for the England series, continued to warm the bench.
