India and Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad was named the captain while Mumbai’s Shams Mulani got the vice-captain duties for West Zone as the 15-member squad was announced on Monday following a meeting between the selection committee chaired by Mumbai chief selector Rajesh Pawar.
The leadership was handed over from pacer Shardul Thakur (who led the team last season) to Gaikwad who captains Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL and was recently the vice captain of the India A team in tri-series against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
The Duleep Trophy will be played at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from August 23 to September 10. The tournament will retain its zonal format for the 2026-2027 season.
The West Zone will take on North Zone in the quarterfinal 2 of the tournament from August 23-26.
The Duleep Trophy will comprise a total of five matches including the final, which will be played from September 6-10 at the COE Ground 1.
The batting options for the side include Prithvi Shaw, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivalik Sharma, Jaymeet Patel, Siddharth Desai led by the skipper Gaikwad, providing the team a blend of youth and experience.
Saurashtra’s Harvik Desai, who is the only player from the state in the squad, and Gujarat’s Urvil Patel, are the two wicketkeepers, offering the team some strong options behind the stumps.
The bowling line will be headed by pacers Thakur, Mukesh Chaudhary, Tushar Deshpande and Atit Seth, with the deputy Captain Mulani and Tanush Kotian providing the spin options.
Squad:
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C, Maharashtra), Shams Mulani (VC, Mumbai), Prithvi Shaw (Maharashtra), Harvik Desai (WK, Saurashtra), Urvil Patel (WK, Gujarat), Shivalik Sharma (Baroda), Musheer Khan (Mumbai), Sarfaraz Khan (Mumbai), Jaymeet Patel (Gujarat), Siddharth Desai (Gujarat), Tanush Kotian (Mumbai), Tushar Deshpande (Mumbai), Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Atit Seth (Baroda), Mukesh Chaudhary (Maharashtra).
