Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh’s star batters Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, respectively, have reportedly been ruled out of the ongoing Duleep Trophy’s semi-finals due to injuries.

According to The Times of India, Baroda batter Shivalik Sharma, who was named among the reserves for West Zone, is likely to replace Sarfaraz in the squad ahead of the semi-final, while Jurel’s state-mate ‘keeper Upendra Yadav will substitute him for Central Zone. While Sarfaraz has suffered a quadriceps injury, Jurel has failed to recover from the groin injury that kept him out of the quarter-final against North East.

Sarfaraz was set to feature for the defending champions against Central Zone, starting September 4 at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, with the team getting a bye for the semi-finals. But now, he won’t be able to play the final even if the West Zone makes it that far.

“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," the newspaper cited an unnamed source as saying.
 

It’s a major blow to both Mumbai and the right-handed batter, who was looking in sublime form in preparations for India’s home Test season, with two centuries in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament: a run-a-ball 111 against Haryana and an even more aggressive 114-ball 138 against TNCA XI.

Shivalik, meanwhile, has scored 1,087 runs in 18 first-class matches at an average of 43.48, with three hundreds and five fifties. He scored 484 runs at 44 in seven matches last Ranji Trophy season, with one hundred and three fifties.

Kuldeep Yadav, Tilak Varma To Also Miss Out

The report added that two more Indian internationals, Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma, won’t play the semi-final for Central Zone and South Zone, respectively. The duo will travel to the UAE with the Indian T20 team to begin the preparations for the Asia Cup around the same time as the semi-finals.  

Kuldeep Yadav, Tilak Varma To Also Miss Out

The report added that two more Indian internationals, Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma, won’t play the semi-final for Central Zone and South Zone, respectively. The duo will travel to the UAE with the Indian T20 team to begin the preparations for the Asia Cup around the same time as the semi-finals.