"....is a massive shot in the arm....": Sunil Gavaskar reacts after Shubman Gill set for Duleep Trophy

After the tireless Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, where the new Indian Test captain Shubman Gill won the Player of the Series award for India after ending the series as the leading run-scorer, he isn't taking a long rest, as he is ready to lead North Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2025-26. Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reacted to this latest news.

It was quite surprising that the Indian Test captain Shubman Gill decided to play the Duleep Trophy 2025-26, where he will lead North Zone, and they will start the tournament from the Quarter-final round with the match against East Zone. The 25-year-old cricketer scored 754 runs in 10 innings in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 in England with the help of four centuries, including one double-hundred. As that five-match Test series was a very busy schedule, which India drew 2-2, Gill's presence in the upcoming Duleep Trophy was quite unexpected, which will start from August 28. 

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The Indian skipper is sending the right signal: Sunil Gavaskar on Shubman Gill's presence in Duleep Trophy

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is very happy with Gill's decision to appear in the Duleep Trophy. The former Indian captain believes that it sends the right signal to the entire team. 

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar expressed his feeling by writing, “Shubman Gill, captaining the North Zone team, is a massive shot in the arm for this tournament. By being available, the Indian skipper is sending the right signal to the other members of the team. It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest."

The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking: Sunil Gavaskar

On the other hand, the Indian fast bowlers, who were present in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, are mostly not playing in the upcoming Duleep Trophy season. Gavaskar feels it is a sensible decision that these pacers will not be present in the forthcoming Zonal tournament. 

Gavaskar added, “The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking, as it has been an unusually hot summer in England, thanks to global warming, and their energies must have been expended after the untiring spells they bowled throughout the series.” 

As the Indian national team players are prioritizing domestic cricket, it is massive news. Last season, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, etc., returned to the Ranji Trophy. While India failed to reach the Final of the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship, after reaching the first two Finals and finishing as the runners-up on both occasions, the Indian red-ball team now seems serious and desperate to participate in the next ICC WTC Final to get a chance to win it for the first time.