Shardul Thakur wins toss, and West Zone bat first against Central Zone at BCCI Ground B in Bengaluru
Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Deepak Chahar, Rajat Patidar headline this red-ball knock-out fixture
West Zone enter directly; Central Zone advanced via first-innings lead in their quarter-final
West Zone captain Shardul Thakur won the toss and chose to bat first against Central Zone in the 2nd semi-final of the Duleep Trophy 2025, on Thursday (September 4) at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground B, Bengaluru.
This semi-final is crucial for India's domestic cricket calendar, with several India national team(s) hopefuls looking to impress. Thakur's decision to set a target sets the tone for a high-stakes clash against Rajat Patidar & Co.
West Zone Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Aarya Desai, Shreyas Iyer, Harvik Desai (wk), Shams Mulani, Shardul Thakur (c), Tanush Kotian, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Tushar Deshpande.
Central Zone Playing XI: Aayush Pandey, Upendra Yadav (wk), Danish Malewar, Rajat Patidar (c), Yash Rathod, Shubham Sharma, Harsh Dubey, Saransh Jain, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Thakur.
With more than half a dozen capped players in the action, expect the highest quality of cricket in this red-ball knock-out feature.
West Zone Vs Central Zone, Duleep Trophy 2025 Updated Squads
West Zone Squad: Shardul Thakur (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala.
Standby players: Mahesh Pithiya, Shivalik Shama, Mukesh Choudhary, Siddharath Desai, Chintan Gaja, Urvil Patel, Musheer Khan.
Central Zone Squad: Dhruv Jurel (c), Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed.
Standby players: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav
