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With the Indian cricket team prepping for the upcoming Men’s Asia Cup 2025, set to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September, several players are currently practising as they play in the Duleep Trophy while the others are training at Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. With the Duleep Trophy 2025 moving into the penultimate stage, the West Zone have been handed a massive setback.
Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, who plays for the West Zone in the domestic cricket tournament, have been reportedly ruled out of the semi-finals due to an injury. According to reports citing Times of India (TOI), Sarfaraz Khan sustained a quadriceps injury and will miss the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy.
Shivalik Sharma likely to replace Sarfaraz Khan in West Zone squad for Duleep Trophy 2025
A source close to the developments was quoted as saying by TOI, “Sarfaraz is suffering from a quadriceps injury, which he picked up while scoring a century against Haryana in the Buchi Babu event five days ago. He’s set to be out for almost three weeks, and is currently rehabilitating at the CoE.” While this comes as a massive blow for the defending champions, who are scheduled to take on Central Zone from September 4 after getting a bye.
Notably, the right-hand batter has looked in sublime form as he scored two centuries in the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament. While he scored run a ball 111 against Haryana, he went on to hit 114-ball 138 against Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s XI.
Speaking of Shivalik Sharma, he was initially named among the reserves for West Zone. Shivalik has scored 1087 runs in 18 First-Class matches at an average of 43.48 with three hundreds and five fifties. He has amassed 484 runs in seven matches last season, averaging 44.00 with one ton and three fifty-plus scores.
