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Central Zone suffered a major blow ahead of their Duleep Trophy semifinal clash against West Zone as skipper and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel was diagnosed with dengue. His illness has forced him out of the knockout contest, leaving the team without their designated captain and one of their most reliable batters.
Dhruv Jurel’s replacement for Duleep Trophy semifinal
To fill the void, Vidarbha’ s Ranji Trophy-winning captain Akshay Wadkar has been officially named as Jurel’s replacement. Wadkar, who led Vidarbha to their third Ranji Trophy crown earlier in 2025, brings both leadership skills and wicketkeeping expertise to the side. Central Zone head coach Usman Ghani confirmed the decision, stressing the importance of including another wicketkeeper in Jurel’s absence.
“Yes, Wadkar has been included in Central Zone team since Jurel is suffering from dengue. He is not available for the next game and we needed one more stumper in the side,” was quoted as saying to CricTracker.
Wadkar had been initially overlooked for the squad despite a stellar domestic season, where he amassed more than 700 runs and completed 24 dismissals behind the stumps. His belated call-up now provides Central Zone with an experienced option at a time when their squad has been weakened by multiple withdrawals.
Apart from Jurel, Central Zone will also be without star spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who pulled out due to national commitments. Kuldeep’s absence further depletes the bowling attack, putting extra responsibility on the likes of Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Thakur to deliver against a strong West Zone side.
Also READ: South Zone name replacements for Tilak Varma and Sai Kishore ahead of the Duleep Trophy semifinal
Updated Central Zone squad for Duleep trophy semifinal
The revised Central Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy semifinal is as follows:
Rajat Patidar (c), 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, Khaleel Ahmed.
Standbys: Madhav Kaushik, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav.
