Cricinfo understands that Gaikwad, the Maharashtra batter, will bat in the middle order, because of the role he sees himself in when it comes to red-ball cricket. Gaikwad, 29, was recently part of the India A squad that won the one-day tri-series and the four-day series in Sri Lanka.
The six-team competition will be played from August 23 to September 10 at the Centre of Excellence premises. West Zone lost to eventual champions Central Zone in the semi-final of the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy.
West Zone squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Shams Mulani (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Tanush Kotian, Harvik Desai (wk), Jaymeet Patel, Urvil Patel, Siddharth Desai, Atit Sheth, Prithvi Shaw, Shivalik Sharma and Mukesh Choudhary
