Now Reading: North Zone bench top Ranji scorer, pick Yash Dhull in Duleep Trophy
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North Zone bench top Ranji scorer, pick Yash Dhull in Duleep Trophy
North Zone's Duleep Trophy quarter-final selection has stirred controversy. Coaches Ajay Sharma and Sarandeep Singh dropped opener Sanat Sangwan, who scored 828 runs in the previous Ranji season and was third among top run-getters, to instead play former India U-19 captain Yash Dhull. Dhull, who managed only 381 runs in the 2025-26 Ranji season and is not a specialist opener, was dismissed for 9 on Sunday, appearing uncomfortable against Mumbai's Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur.
Rediff.com reports that DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma said the coaches alone decide the XI and that he could not explain the decision. A senior DDCA official suggested Dhull's T20 performances in the Delhi Premier League influenced the call. Times of India notes that the BCCI has reverted to zonal selection this year, keeping national selectors out of the process, and quotes former selector Devang Gandhi calling it a 'defeat of the tournament's purpose' if the highest run-scoring opener is benched.
Both outlets report that players are primarily auditioning for a spot in the India A Test side against Australia A in October. Sangwan's exclusion has revived debate on whether the zonal system allows personal biases to override performance.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Rediff.com leads with the controversial selection decision itself, detailing Sangwan's runs and Dhull's failure. Times of India wraps the same episode into a broader debate on the tournament's fading relevance and the absence of national selectors. Rediff foregrounds internal DDCA politics and the personal bias charge. ToI foregrounds the systemic flaw: zonal associations picking their own. Neither source faults the board's decision to revert to zonal selection, both treat the Sangwan exclusion as evidence that credibility is lost. The measured takeaway: the mechanism that produced the snub (zonal coaches) is the same mechanism the board reinstated this year. Watch for BCCI's response to the growing call, cited by both outlets, to restore selector oversight for the next edition.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 government-critical
Sources (2): rediff.com (government critical), timesofindia.indiatimes.com (government critical)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
