Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer eye Test comeback as they confirm availability for Duleep Trophy
Apart from Shreyas and Sarfaraz, Shivam Dube and Tushar Deshpande have also confirmed their intention to participate in the tournament. West Zone have already qualified for the semi-final and they will take on the winner of the quarter-final on September 4.
"Yes, Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan have confirmed their availability. Tushar Deshpande and Shivam Dube are available as well for the crucial tie," the source told Hindustan Times.
Shreyas Iyer currently finds himself out of favour when it comes to being picked for the Test side. He has played 14 Tests for India, scoring one century and five fifties. His performance in the domestic season for Mumbai last season led to people believing that he would be picked in the Test squad for the series against England.
However, it was quite the contrary as the Ajit Agarkar-led committee looked past him for the five-match series. At that time, Agarkar had said, "Shreyas had a good ODI series, played well in domestic as well, but right now there's no room in Test cricket."
On the other hand, head coach Gautam Gambhir had said that anyone can make a comeback into the Test squad as long as they keep grinding it out in domestic cricket.
Earlier this year, Shreyas Iyer led Punjab Kings to the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL), but the side came up short against Rajat Patidar's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Sarfaraz Khan eyes comeback
Sarfaraz Khan, who has been piling on the runs in domestic cricket, was overlooked for the England tour despite grinding it out and losing several kilos. The right-handed batter's weight has been a talking point for so long; hence, it is no surprise that he decided to work on the same.
Sarfaraz, who scored 150 runs in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand last year, failed to set the stage on fire in the next two Tests, and this led to him warming the bench in the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Shardul Thakur and Yashasvi Jaiswal are unlikely to be picked in the West Zone squad as they were part of India's squad for the England tour and have been on the road for almost two months.
Earlier, the South Zone had named Tilak Varma as their skipper for the Duleep Trophy. The likes of KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj have not been picked in the team.
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