Cricketers Rohit Sharma (in white cap), Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah (blue t shirt) at BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on August 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Allen Egenuse J.
As the countdown begins for next month’s Asia Cup (September 9) in the United Arab Emirates, top Indian cricketers, including Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah, touched down at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Saturday (August 30, 2025) for mandatory fitness and pre-season tests.
Rohit Sharma, the ODI skipper, and Mohammed Siraj also flew down to the sprawling campus though they are not part of the T20 squad for the continental event.
Test leader Gill was initially named as the North Zone captain for the ongoing Duleep Trophy – also being played at the CoE – but did not feature in the quarterfinal against East Zone because of an illness.
A few Asia Cup-bound players like Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav are playing in the Duleep Trophy for their respective zones while wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has been at the Centre for the past three days.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shardul Thakur and Sarfaraz Khan, all of whom are set to play for West Zone in the Duleep semifinal next week, are also at the CoE. Jaiswal, in fact, is in the list of standbys for Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, South Zone will have to name a new skipper for the Duleep Trophy semifinals (September 4-7) as Tilak Varma has been included in the Asia Cup squad.
Kerala’s Mohammed Azharuddeen is the vice-captain, and he could be promoted to the leadership role or they have more experienced candidates in R Sai Kishore, Devdutt Padikkal or N Jagadeesan.
Injury worry for Mukesh
East Zone suffered a setback as pacer Mukesh Kumar was not bowling in the second innings, possibly owing to a niggle that he sustained during the first innings here.
The Bengal pacer sat out for nine overs in the first innings to tend to his thigh/groin before resuming the bowling. Mukesh also came out to bat in East Zone’s first innings.
However, he was not available to bowl in the second innings on the third day of the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals.
(with inputs from PTI)
Published – August 30, 2025 02:21 pm IST
