Gurnoor Brar named in North Zone squad for Duleep Trophy semi-final

Gurnoor Brar, a fast bowler from Punjab and India, has been added to the North Zone team for Sunday's Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Gurnoor has linked up with the squad straight after India's Test series against Sri Lanka, which ended in a 1-0 series win on Thursday.

Gurnoor is expected to slot straight into the playing XI, with the national selectors keen to give him as many red-ball opportunities as possible before India's next Test assignment - a two-match series in New Zealand in November.

Gurnoor has been in India's last two Test squads and has been in the BCCI's target pool of players for over a year, but he has yet to play in a Test. He went on India A's shadow tour of Sri Lanka in July and finished the second unofficial Test with a score of 10 for 145. Overall, he has picked up 62 wickets in 19 first-class matches at an average of 25.24.

The 23-year-old Gurnoor made his ODI debut against Afghanistan in June and also featured in all three ODIs on India's recent tour of England. At 32.81, he has taken 11 wickets in six ODI appearances thus far.

Auqib Nabi, a fast bowler for Jammu and Kashmir, is considering a brief stint in the English county circuit while his visa paperwork is processed. Cricinfo has learned that rather than playing in the Duleep Trophy for the time being, the selection committee wants Nabi to play in conditions that are more favorable to seamers.

Nabi, who took 60 wickets at 12.56 in a historic Ranji Trophy season for Jammu & Kashmir in 2025-26, did not get a game on the Test tour of Sri Lanka. However, he is understood to be in contention for the New Zealand tour, particularly because of his ability to swing the new ball.

Nabi is likely to play in the first of India A's two matches against Australia on September 22 in Puducherry. After that, he will likely join the J&K squad for their Irani Cup match against Rest of India on October 1 to 5 in Srinagar.

The Irani Cup and India A's second match against Australia could force the national selectors to balance their rosters across both teams. A change in the fixtures at this stage is virtually ruled out.