Duleep Trophy 2025: Uncapped Indians who stole spotlight

The Duleep Trophy 2025 marked the commencement of the brand-new season of the Indian domestic cricket. Facing the reigning champions South Zone in the finale at Bengaluru’s BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Central Zone lifted their first trophy after a decade of fighting hard for the coveted silverware. Central, led by Rajat Patidar, were absolutely dominant throughout the three games they contested in the competition. Patidar, having played a handful of Tests for the Indian team, was brilliant on the individual front as well, ending the season as the highest run-getter with 382 runs across five innings.

While capped players grab the maximum limelight, it is often the uncapped and promising young talents who silently grinding it out, only to let their showings speak louder for their best interest. The season ended was nothing different, as several uncapped stars, who’ve been toiling it hard in the domestic set-up for quite some time now, raised their arms when the side needed them the most. As another season ends, CricTracker sheds light on three such names who are far from being in the thick of things, but have forced the selectors to look at them with the standout performances. 

And just for the context, none of the players in the list below have played in the Indian Premier League either, so scouts might have them play for fan-favourite franchises with IPL 2026 Auctions not too far away.

3 uncapped Indians who performed well in Duleep Trophy 2025

3. Danish Malewar

Danish Malewar, the dynamic batter, unleashed his class when it mattered. Playing for Central Zone, Malewar found himself batting across different positions to garner a tally of 352 runs from five innings. He also smashed a double ton in the quarter-final against North East Zone, which helped the side gain a comfortable walk into the semis.

In the penultimate clash against a star-studded West Zone line-up, which had the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Yashasvi Jaiswal among others, Malewar hit another crucial half-century and bailed his side out of trouble, sailing the ship over the shores and gaining a first-inning’s lead to ensure Central moved to the finale without much hassle.

A promising lad hailing from Nagpur, Maharashtra, Malewar represents Vidarbha and had been super-helpful in the side lifting the silverware with his 783 runs from nine matches at an amazing average of 52.20. What’s more awe-inspiring is that Ranji 2024-25 also marked the First-Class debut for the 21-year-old. He will hope to continue his form and bang the selectors’ doors.