5 players who can break into the Test side on the basis of their 2025 Duleep Trophy performance ft. Sarfaraz Khan 

The 2025 Duleep Trophy will officially kick-start the Indian domestic calendar, with the red-ball competition set to begin from Thursday, August 28 onwards. The tournament returns to the zonal format as South Zone and West Zone automatically secure berths in the semi-final for their efforts in the 2023 edition.

The Duleep Trophy is conveniently scheduled right before Team India's home season from October onwards, giving the players outside the scheme of main squad things to impress the selectors and make a case for a return to the side.

On that note, let us take a look at five players who can break into the Test side on the basis of their 2025 Duleep Trophy performance.

#1 Sarfaraz Khan

The Mumbai batter enjoyed a strong start to his international career after waiting a significant while on the sidelines. A solid home series against England, followed by a strong start in the Test series against New Zealand, led to belief that he has nearly cemented his place with the likes of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer out of the picture during the time.

However, with only 21 runs in his last four innings, Sarfaraz Khan was dropped from the side, and not considered for the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series. His return to the side for the England tour became a complicated affair as well since the selectors preferred the likes of Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan during the rebuild.

After working on his fitness during the home season, followed by a recent hundred in the Buchi Babu tournament, Sarfaraz Khan has the perfect platform in the form of the Duleep Trophy to make a strong statement and get back into the selectors' good books.

#2 Shreyas Iyer

The right-handed batter's recent snubs for the England tour and the 2025 Asia Cup dominated the headlines. He has not been in contention for the red-ball side since being mysteriously dropped midway through the home series against England in 2024.

Since then, Iyer has bounced back strongly, getting back into the BCCI Central Contract list, and being among the runs across formats. Although he has largely played only white-ball cricket for a while, he had a decent 2024-25 Ranji Trophy campaign for Mumbai, scoring 480 runs in five matches at an average of 68.57.

With a massive home season coming up, and his ability against spin not being a mystery, Iyer has a strong chance of mounting a comeback through a dominant Duleep Trophy campaign.

#3 Mukesh Kumar

Team India's recent overseas red-ball campaigns were major indicators that a larger pace bowling pool is needed. With question marks on Jasprit Bumrah's unavailability and Mohammad Shami being phased out, India need more resources to assist Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep.

Although India have Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, and Arshdeep Singh in the mix, factors such as workload and form mean that Men in Blue could use another reliable bowler for cover. Mukesh Kumar fits the bill with his skillset and experience. The right-arm pacer made his debut during the tour of the West Indies in 2023, but has only played three Tests so far.

He had a decent IPL 2025 season for the Delhi Capitals, and had a good outing for India 'A' during the tour of England. If he proceeds to have a solid Duleep Trophy campaign as well, he could be back in contention for the main squad.

#4 Tanush Kotian

The upcoming home season marks the first time in a long while that India are without Ravichandran Ashwin in the setup. Following the senior spinner's retirement in Australia, India need to tweak their spin bowling department a little.

The Men in Blue will most likely overload the squad with spin bowling option, and as of now, India have some solid options like Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja. But, with three spinners likely to play together, the team would love to have another option in their squad.

Taking into account that India have three solid left-arm spinners already, it would make sense for them to include a right-arm off-spinner, a similar profile as Ashwin. When the veteran spinner retired in Australia, it was Tanush Kotian, who was named as a replacement.

The Mumbai off-spinner could potentially get another call-up if he has a notable Duleep Trophy campaign.

#5 Ishan Kishan

After a couple of jittery years, Team India finally have a solid wicket-keeping group in Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, as far as Test cricket is concerned. But, with Rishabh Pant out with a broken foot, and Dhruv Jurel not yet making the most of the chance, East Zone captain Ishan Kishan has a small window to make it back, provided he has an exceptional Duleep Trophy campaign.

The wicket-keeper batter had an opportunity to make a comeback to the side for the series finale against England, but unfortunately sustained an injury following a prolific start to his stint with Nottinghamshire in the County Championship.