Duleep Trophy 2024: 5 unlucky players who missed out on selection

On the 5th of September, four teams will take part in the Duleep Trophy 2024 season. Each team has huge stars who are using the tournament to get into form for the host of Test matches set to be played. 

Initially, it was reported that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had shown interest in playing in the tournament. BCCI secretary Jay Shah later revealed that the duo wasn't picked due to the need to preserve them from potential injury risks. 

While most of the stars will want to use this tournament as a vehicle for a comeback or stake a claim, a few unlucky stars missed out on selections. Some of the players have been in good form in recent times or haven’t been considered for other reasons. 

Here are the five players who were unlucky to be ignored for the Duleep Trophy 2024 tournament 

5- Hanuma Vihari 

The 30-year-old Indian batter played on one leg to save the Sydney Test match for India during the last tour of Australia. Hanuma Vihari will consider himself unlucky to be one of the top players to have missed out on selection for the Duleep Trophy 2024. The right-handed batter has been in decent form with the bat having scored 522 runs from 8 matches. His average last season was above 40 with three fifties and one century. 

4- Prithvi Shaw 

The 24-year-old, once labelled the next big batting hope, wasn’t considered for the Duleep Trophy 2024 campaign. Prithvi Shaw hasn’t played for India since 2021 and is currently playing for Northamptonshire in the English List A cricket season. The attacking batter’s last Test for India was in Adelaide during the tour of Australia. Shaw has been in good form so far scoring 303 runs from 8 matches with an average of just under 38 with 3 fifties. 

3- Rinku Singh 

It has been an astounding turnaround to the fortunes of Rinku Singh. The 26-year-old is one of the top stars to miss selection for the Duleep Trophy 2024. The left-handed batter has played 47 First-Class matches for Uttar Pradesh and scored 3173 runs with an average of 54.2 along with 7 tons and 20 half-centuries. After an impressive start to 2024, Rinku Singh has seen his form suffer in the recent few games. This could be one of the possible reasons for him missing out on selection for the Duleep Trophy 2024 campaign. 

2- Jaydev Unadkat 

Just a year ago, Jaydev Unadkat was opening the bowling for India in the Test series against West Indies. Despite his good form in the Ranji Trophy, the 32-year-old Saurashtra skipper has missed selection for the Duleep Trophy 2024. Jaydev Unadkat has been a player who has toiled hard on the domestic circuit and the latest snub will raise severe questions on his international future. 

1- Sanju Samson 

29-year-old Sanju Samson is one of the high-profile stars to have missed out on selection for the Duleep Trophy 2024 season. The right-handed batter has been a constant fixture for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy season. His snub for the tournament also puts a huge doubt on his likely chances to make it to the Test team. Considering that KS Bharat was selected ahead of Sanju Samson has created lots of debates in cricketing circle.