India’s first choice wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is set to make his comeback in red-ball cricket with the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy, as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee picked the squads for the first round of the tournament.

This is the first time Pant will play first-class cricket since his horrific car accident in December 2022.

Meanwhile, pacer Mohammed Shami, recuperating from a surgery, isn’t part of any of the four squads. He is nearing full fitness and has begun bowling full tilt as he targets a comeback during the two-Test home series against Bangladesh from September 19. Shami is expected to continue training under the NCA’s watch in Bengaluru.

The selectors have shown their faith on the duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who had lost their central contracts for not prioritising domestic cricket last season, besides naming a host of other top players, including KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav.

However, the top four, comprising Test captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah have been given an extended break ahead of India’s home season.

Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, is also set to make a comeback after a lengthy injury layoff, while top-order batter Tilak Varma, who suffered a wrist injury towards the end of IPL 2024, was also picked for the Duleep Trophy.

The teams will have a mix of experienced and youth with the selectors showing faith on teenaged Mumbai allrounder Musheer Khan, who had a breakout year in which he was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad as well as Mumbai’s victorious Ranji Trophy campaign.

Musheer, who struck a double-hundred in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final and a match-winning hundred in the final, will feature alongside his elder brother and India batter Sarfaraz Khan.

The Duleep Trophy will be played in a new format this year with four teams — Team A, Team B, Team C and Team D, replacing the original format under which it was a zonal competition featuring teams from six zones – North, South, East, West, Central and North-East.

The players who will be picked for the Bangladesh series will be replaced in the Duleep Trophy.

Duleep Trophy 2024-25 squads (first round)

Team A: Shubman Gill (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat

Team B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy (subject to fitness), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk)

Team C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Umran Malik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier

Team D: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar.