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You can only pick 61.
Indian cricket is one of the few sporting phenomena in the world where this ludicrous statement doesn't make anyone laugh. Sixty-one players were selected for the 2024 Duleep Trophy; selectors excluded half of the first-11 and some injured domestic stars, but still couldn't fit all the international-level quality available in the country.
So below, we have selected 'Team E', a hypothetical fifth 11 comprising of the best players who were worthy of teams A-D. Mind you, even though this is a great 11, there can be Teams F, G, H and so on and they won't be too bad either -- that's the level of competition and quality that this country is brimming with.
Check the 11 here:
Top-order: Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Abhishek Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara
Tamil Nadu fans would know that Pradosh Ranjan Paul has all the right to feel hard done by his snub. The 23-year-old is one of the brightest prospects of the state and has been a consistent performer on the domestic as well as India 'A' circuits, his brilliant hundred in South Africa last year being a big example.
Last year, the technically brilliant keeper was the third-highest run-getter for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, taking his batting average to a stunning 57.36. If he was ignored because of the glut of capped top-order stars available for the tournament, he should be one of the first names back for future games.
Abhishek Sharma is also a big miss. His record won't speak for itself but with a 98 on his first-class debut and a brilliant hundred in 2022 against Chandigarh, he has shown enough signs of a red-ball star veiled by a T20 basher.
By looking past him, the selectors have not only missed the chance of getting competition ready for Yashasvi Jaiswal but also to give Abhishek a few overs to ball in red-ball cricket to further hone his skills for white-ball formats.
Cheteshwar Pujara also can be forgiven for feeling immensely disappointed for not seeing his name in the Duleep Trophy 2024 squads. As one of India's greatest-ever Test batters and consistently one of the highest run-scorers in every Ranji Trophy in recent years, he deserved a chance to try and make a comeback.
The message his snub sends out is that the national selectors have overlooked him from the Indian side not because of his declining skill, but his age, which isn't fair because Pujara can still compete with the new generation.
Middle-order: Hanuma Vihari, Sanju Samson (WK) and Rinku Singh
Another Test player who has just disappeared, Hanuma Vihari would share Pujara's feelings. Not too long ago, he was batting with one hamstring defending the Syndey Test for India, without which there'd been no Gabba 2021.
After he returned from his injuries, he didn't get enough chances to fix his place and then suddenly stopped getting selected in the squads. Now, despite his consistent performances in Ranji, and skills that'd give most young players a run for their money, his brush-off seems like the national doors have been closed.
It might be a hard fact to digest for some but Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh are among the best first-class players in India. Samson averages 38.54 in the format and has 10 centuries -- which is pretty good for a Keralite given the spicy wickets in the state -- and he could have been seen as another aggressive 'keeper option.
Meanwhile, Rinku's stat reads at 54.70 and he has been among the best in Ranji in the last five years. He was even with India as a reserve during the South Africa Tests last year. How's he not even in the Duleep Trophy is shocking at best.
Lower-order: Jayant Yadav and Kumar Kartikeya
What happened with Vihari recently, has been happening with Jayant Yadav for a long time. A lot of people would remember the Haryana all-rounder for the 2016 Test series against England in India where he scored a brilliant century with Virat Kohli on the other end, and impressed with his bowling too.
Like he used to before that, Jayant has been racking up wickets and runs on the domestic circuit -- he had a bowling average of 14.17 in the last Ranji Trophy -- but with no chance in sight. At 34, he still could have been useful for India to release the relentless pressure on Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Tests.
If you still think the selectors have just gone by the top run-scorers and wicket-takers in the Ranji Trophy in the last few years, then you'll find it difficult to explain why Kumar Kartikeya, the 26-year-old joint second-highest wicket-taker in the last Ranji Trophy with 41 scalps and 19.51, isn't among the 61.
The tall left-arm spinner is among the most skilful in the country and this is the time India needs to maximize its spin resources. Kartikeya would have been quite handy in any of those four teams.
Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini
These are three international fast bowlers who have been looked past for the Duleep Trophy. Umesh Yadav is still one of the best pacers for home conditions and should have been considered for the Bangladesh Tests -- because he has maintained his standards in the Ranji Trophy -- let alone this tournament.
Ishant Sharma's situation is similar to Pujara's. The workhorse pacer has been shown the pink slip from the Indian team but has continued to perform not only in first-class cricket but also at a very high level in the IPL.
Keeping him in one of the teams would have been a mark of respect for his consistency as well as an opportunity for younger batters to test them out against one of India's best fast bowlers.
Navdeep Saini is the final player of this 11. His snub clearly suggests that the selectors are not looking at him for one of the spots in the national team, which would be partly surprising and partly disappointing for the fast bowler.
His Test appearances for India weren't a fluke -- he has an average of 29.28 in first-class cricket. He was with the Indian Test side till last year and with the 'A' team in South Africa as well. He has all the tools to be at least a squad player for the Test team but would rue missing this golden opportunity.
