Duleep Trophy - Kanhaiya Wadhawan to lead J&K dominated North Zone squad

The North Zone squad is dominated by reigning Ranji Trophy champions, J&K, with six of their players making it to the 15-member squad. Besides captain Wadhawan, opener Qamran Iqbal, middle-order batter Abdul Samad, left-arm spin allrounder Abid Mushtaq, and the fast-bowling pair of Sunil Kumar and Yudhvir Singh are also there.

Samad was J&K’s highest run-scorer in the previous Ranji season, scoring 748 runs in 15 innings at 57.53. Wadhawan had an impressive season, with 474 runs in 13 innings at 36.46. Iqbal also had a profitable season, which included an unbeaten 160 in the final against Karnataka. This is Iqbal’s first Duleep Trophy call-up. Mushtaq, who scored 445 runs and picked up 20 wickets during the season, will be the team’s spin allrounder alongside Nishant Sindhu.

Delhi has the second-highest representation in the squad with four players. The list includes batters Ayush Doseja and Sanat Sangwan, who finished as the second and third-highest run-scorers, respectively, in the last Ranji season. Middle-order batter Doseja recorded 949 runs in 12 innings from seven matches at 105.44, which included four centuries and five half-centuries. Sangwan, meanwhile, scored 828 runs in seven matches at 69.00, with three centuries and three half-centuries. Yash Dhull and Badoni have secured their places for the second consecutive time.

Alongside Arshdeep, J&K quicks Yudhvir and Sunil, as well as Haryana fast bowler Anshul Kamboj, will lead the pace attack. The most successful bowler of the previous Ranji Trophy season, Aquib Nabi, was not considered for selection as he will be on his maiden tour of Sri Lanka with the Indian team.

North Zone will play their first match against West Zone on August 23 at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

North Zone squad for 2026-27 Duleep Trophy

Kanhaiya Wadhawan (capt, wk), Sanat Sangwan, Qamran Iqbal, Yash Dhull, Ayush Doseja, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni (vice-capt), Nishant Sindhu, Arjun Sharma, Abid Mushtaq, Arshdeep Singh, Sunil Kumar, Anshul Kamboj, Yudhvir Singh, Nikhil Kashyap

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