Duleep Trophy semi-final: Central Zone captain Dhruv Jurel ruled out
What's the story
Dhruv Jurel, the captain of Central Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy tournament, has been ruled out of the impending semi-final against West Zone set to begin on September 4. Jurel, who was ruled out of the quarter-final owing to a groin niggle, will now be sidelined for a longer duration. As per reports, the Indian wicketkeeper-batter has contracted dengue.
Team changes
Akshay Wadkar replaces Jurel
Usman Ghani, the Central Zone head coach, confirmed Jurel's dengue diagnosis and announced Akshay Wadkar as his replacement for the semi-final. In Jurel's absence, Rajat Patidar led Central Zone in their quarter-final against North East Zone. While the match was drawn, Central Zone prevailed through a massive first-inning lead. They racked up 532/4d in 102 overs. North East Zone were later bowled out for 185. Central Zone declared their innings on 331/7 before North East Zone managed 200/6.
Jurel
Jurel featured in Oval Test
Jurel, who was part of the Indian squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, played his last Test at The Oval. He replaced the injured Rishabh Pant. The wicketkeeper-batter was impressive during India A's tour to England. In 25 First-Class matches, Jurel has slammed 1,515 runs at an average of 47.34. The tally includes a ton and 12 half-centuries.
Recent matches
Kuldeep Yadav also unavailable for Central Zone
Apart from Jurel, wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also pulled out of the Duleep Trophy as he will be accompanying Team India to Dubai for the Asia Cup. Full squad: Rajat Patidar (captain), Akshay Wadkar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, and Khaleel Ahmed. Standbys: Madhav Kaushik, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, and Upendra Yadav.