Duleep Trophy 2025: Sarfaraz ruled out of West Zone squad

Sarfaraz Khan has been ruled out of the West Zone squad for the entire Duleep Trophy 2025 owing to a quadriceps injury. Sarfaraz was recently in the thick of action at the All India Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Chennai. He had smashed two back-to-back centuries in the local tournament to mark a terrific comeback. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, the board's facility in Bengaluru.

The 27-year-old batter was all set to turn out for defending champions West Zone for their semi-final against Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground B in Bengaluru, scheduled to start on September 4 in an all-important four-day fixture. However, the quadriceps blow has sidelined him from the domestic red-ball tournament.

Even if West Zone prevail in their semi-final contest against the Dhruv Jurel-led unit, it will still mean Sarfaraz being out for the final since he isn't expected to recover in time. Sources in the know have suggested that at least three weeks are needed for the Mumbai-born to be back on track for the all-important domestic season. He is however, on course to be back for Mumbai's Ranji Trophy campaign, beginning October 15.

"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," a source confirmed as per a report by The Times of India.

Sarfaraz is potentially to be replaced by Baroda batter Shivalik Sharma. Shivalik was named among the reserves for the West Zone setup in the tournament. Shivalik has registered 1,087 runs in 18 First-Class matches while averaging 43.48, comprising three hundreds and five half-centuries. The right-handed batter averaged 44 with 484 runs in seven matches last season.

Sarfaraz was snubbed from India's recent tours of Australia and England. He did not find a place in the squad for the UK tour despite a solid 92 for India A against England Lions. He is coming on the back of fine form in the Buchi Babu, scoring a run-a-ball 111 against Haryana and an assertive 114-ball 138 against TNCA XI for Mumbai.