Gautam Gambhir to call shots on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for Duleep Trophy final; BCCI asks seniors to play domestic cricket

India head coach Gautam Gambhir will have the final call on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Tilak Varma's participation in the Duleep Trophy final between East Zone and South Zone, starting in Chennai from September 6. Both Sooryavanshi and Tilak played crucial knocks, guiding their respective teams into the semifinals at the BCCI Centre of Excellence grounds.

While Sooryavanshi's 92 and 40 proved to be the game-changer for East Zone against defending champions Central Zone, Tilak's unbeaten knocks of 116 and 51 helped South Zone overcome West Zone. Sooryavanshi and Tilak, along with east Zone captain are in the Indian side for the t20I series against Afghanistan and the subsequent Asian Games 2026 in Japan.

"The Indian team will assemble in Delhi on either September 9 or 10. If head coach wants all three to report as per T20I team's itinerary, then the trio can't play. But if head coach wants them to play the final and report to Delhi on September 10 late evening, they can also do that," the PTI reported quoting a source after the BCCI review meeting on Thursday in Mumbai.

While the Indian T20I have a busy September schedule, the ODI squad will get into business at the end of the month against West Indies in a home series. As far as Tests are concerned, India do not face any Test-playing nations until November when they fly out to New Zealand.

As a result, the likes of Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal will not get much opportunities in the next couple of months. Rahul is expected to be picked for the ODIs against West Indies. “Rahul, Padikkal and Siraj do not have any competitive cricket right now,” the source added.

"The national selectors want any India player who is available should play the Duleep Trophy final. The trio played last on August 27. The next they will play is September 27 against West Indies in the ODIs.

"Now Padikkal is not a part of ODIs so he might play India A series. But Duleep final if there is a chance, they should play," it said further.

Ajit Agarkar to watch Duleep Trophy final

Although the BCCI chairman of selectors was absent from the BCCI review meeting in Mumbai, it has been decided that the former India all-rounder will be present in Chennai to watch the Duleep Trophy final between East Zone and South Zone at the M Chidambaram Stadium.

However, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia refused to talk about Agarkar's contract extension. Appointed for the post in 2023, Agarkar's contract gets over on October 4. It will be interesting whether Saikia discusses the matter of his extension with him. During Agarkar's tenure, India won the T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026 and also the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.

BCCI applies for Japanese visa for net bowlers

In another development, the BCCI has applied for Japanese visas for Mayank Yadav, Kartik Tyagi and left-armer Mohsin Khan as the Indian cricket board are planning to take the trio as net bowlers for the Asian Games 2026, on specific request of head coach VVS Laxman.

It has been a practice for the BCCI to carry net bowlers and the trio are proven T20 performers. "They are not part of official Indian contingent and will only be there till the Indian men play their first game on September 26, provided the BCCI can arrange for their Japanese visa on time before the team departs from Delhi on September 20," the source added.