India’s wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has been named captain of the Central Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy 2025, set to begin on August 28 at the BCCI’s newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The Duleep Trophy had undergone a format shift in 2024 but is returning to its historic zonal format this year. As opposed to last season, when four mixed teams (A, B, C, D) were constituted, in 2025 zonal selection committees will choose players from their own regions. Jurel, who gained high-profile news recently by replacing Rishabh Pant in India's Test series against England, will captained the Central Zone. As for Rajat Patidar, who has just had a brilliant domestic season and IPL title-winning run, he has been appointed vice-captain, subject to fitness clearance. The team top stars such as Kuldeep Yadav, who is back to domestic cricket after warming the bench in India's tour of England. Kuldeep will lead the spin unit along with Harsh Dubey, who broke records in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy with 69 wickets, and Manav Suthar. In the pace unit, Khaleel Ahmed, who cut short his Essex County sojourn for personal reasons, will join hands with Deepak Chahar, who has regained fitness after a temporary IPL break. Also Read | Chris Woakes skeptical on injury subs in Test cricket In addition, among the batters, Yash Rathod, the highest run-scorer in the last Ranji season with 960 runs, and Danesh Malewar, who scored 153 and 73 in the Ranji final's comeback, have also been included in the line-up. UP captain Aryan Juyal, MP offspin bowler Saransh Jain, and Chhattisgarh's Sanchit Desai also get past the cut. Central Zone Full Squad for the 2025 Duleep Trophy Dhruv Jurel (c, wk), Rajat Patidar (vc - subject to fitness clearance), Aryan Juyal, Danesh Malewar, Sanchit Desai, Kuldeep Yadav, Aditya Thakre, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed Standbys: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav