Yash Dhull likely to miss Duleep Trophy semi-final against South Zone with hamstring injury

A hamstring injury has put Yash Dhull‘s participation in the Duleep Trophy semi-final in serious doubt. The right-handed batter, who opens for North Zone, sustained a suspected grade two hamstring strain ahead of Sunday’s knockout fixture against South Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, prompting team management to reassess their playing eleven.

“Though he was training today, Yash Dhull may just miss the semi-final clash due to a suspected grade two hamstring injury. It is understood that Uday Saharan could come into the squad in his place. This means chances of Sanat Sangwan playing the clash starting on Sunday are bright,” a source said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

Should Dhull be ruled out, specialist opener Sanat Sangwan is expected to slot back into the side and partner Qamran Iqbal at the top of the order. Uday Saharan, the former India Under-19 captain, has been called up as cover within the North Zone squad.

Why does Dhull’s injury revive a contentious selection debate?

The timing of the injury has brought renewed scrutiny to a decision that had already divided opinion. For the quarter-final against West Zone, the North Zone coaching staff of Ajay Sharma and Sarandeep Singh chose to drop Sangwan and hand Dhull an opening berth instead. That call attracted considerable attention given that Sangwan had finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the previous Ranji Trophy season.

Dhull, who captained India to the 2022 Men’s Under-19 World Cup title, had managed only 381 runs across the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. Batting at the top against West Zone’s pace attack, he scored 9 and 0 and looked thoroughly uncomfortable at the crease, drawing further criticism of the team management’s approach. North Zone nevertheless won that quarter-final by 52 runs, arriving at the semi-final stage with strong momentum. India pacer Gurnoor Brar has also joined the squad ahead of Sunday’s match, strengthening their bowling options.

What other squad changes has North Zone made ahead of the semi-final?

Beyond the Dhull situation, the same source confirmed additional squad movements

“Sahil Lotra has also been released from the squad, while Ayush Badoni should be fine to play after recovering from a bout of fever,” the same source added.

North Zone will face a South Zone outfit that reached the semi-finals as last year’s runners-up. Tilak Varma, India’s T20I vice-captain, leads the southern side, with Ricky Bhui, Shaik Rasheed, Narayan Jagadeesan and Karun Nair forming the core of their batting unit. The spin department features leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal alongside left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan, while the pace attack is anchored by MD Nidheesh and Vidwath Kaverappa.