Jaipur: Madhya Pradesh batting stalwart Rajat Patidar will lead the Central Zone team in the Duleep Trophy which will be held in BCCI’s Centre of Excellence grounds in Bengaluru. Central zone will play their first match from August 30.Wicketkeeper-batter Kunal Singh Rathore is the only player from Rajasthan included in the 15-member squad. The state’s former cricketer Nikhil Doru has been appointed as the head coach.The Central Zone team and coaching staff for the Duleep Trophy were announced on Saturday. The announcement came after the Central Zone selection committee met in Indore on Saturday. Nikhil Doru of Udaipur, who previously coached the Rajasthan Ranji side, has been appointed head coach of the Central Zone.The surprising thing is that this time only WK-batter Kunal Singh Rathore has been picked from Rajasthan in the team. Whereas it was expected that at least 3-4 players would be selected from Rajasthan.Overall, the players have had to bear the brunt of the ongoing confusion in the Rajasthan Cricket Association. It seems that Rajasthan’s side was not represented properly in the selection committee.In the 15-member team, five players have been selected from Vidarbha, four from Madhya Pradesh, three from Uttar Pradesh including vice-captain Rinku Singh and one player each from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Not a single name from Rajasthan has been included even in the six players selected in the reserves.Central Zone squad for Duleep Trophy:Rajat Patidar (captain), Aryan Juyal (WK), Saransh Jain, Aman Mokhade, Kunal Chandela, Zeeshan Ansari, Aryan Pandey, Arshad Khan, Rinku Singh (vice-captain), Ayush Pandey, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathore (Rajasthan, WK), Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute. Coach: Nikhil Doru (Rajasthan)Stand-Byes: Amandeep Khare, Mayank Mishra, Saurabh Rawat, Bhargav Meria, Kunal Yadav, Kumar Kartikeya.
