Duleep Trophy

Past Duleep Trophy Editions

• 2025-2026 Season

  The 2025-2026 Duleep Trophy took place from 28 August to 15 September 2025, marking the full revival of the six-zone format featuring North, South, East, West, Central, and North-East. All matches were hosted at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, giving the tournament a consistent venue and strong early-season visibility. The event followed a knockout structure, with North Zone facing East Zone and Central Zone meeting North East Zone in the quarterfinals, while South and West Zones entered directly into the semifinals. Central Zone emerged as champions, defeating South Zone by six wickets in the final, securing their seventh Duleep Trophy title and their first in more than a decade. The final was shaped by disciplined spin bowling and a composed chase, reflecting the competitive balance that defined the season.

  The 2025-2026 edition produced several standout performers, with Rajat Patidar finishing as the leading run scorer and Central Zone’s spin pair of Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya shaping the title run. Broadcast coverage improved during the later stages, and the final drew stronger crowds as interest grew around the knockout format. The tournament reinforced the value of zonal red-ball cricket and offered a clear early-season read on form, conditions, and player development ahead of the wider domestic season.

• 2024-2025 Season

  The 2024 Duleep Trophy was different because it had four teams: India A, B, C, and D. There were some interesting matches and stories. After all, this framework was different from the usual zonal plan. The event was won by India A, which was led by Mayank Agarwal and beat India C in an exciting final. The championship game was very close and came down to the wire on the last day, showing how tough and determined both teams were.

  Several players had games that stood out. For example, India C's young Sai Sudharsan got a hard-fought hundred in the final, showing how tough he was against a strong bowling attack. India A won thanks in large part to the bowling of Prasidh Krishna and the all-around efforts of Tanush Kotian. This shows how talented the Indian local circuit is. Cricket was very competitive at the competition, and the ends of several games were very close. As players competed to get their names written down by a national selection, there was less focus on rivalries between zones and more on how well each player did. This structure was different, but it gave players a chance to test themselves against a bigger range of talented players, instead of just players from other zones.

  The 2024 event was set up in a round-robin style, with no knockout rounds. At the end of the league stage, the winner was the team with the most points. Because of how the games were set up, every game was important, and one loss could ruin a team's chances of winning the title. There were not as many moves as in a knockout system, where one team can reach its peak at the right time. Repetition was very important here. The Decision Review System (DRS) was also used in the competition. This added another level of strategy depth and interest to the games. The crowds and media coverage were small but excited, and most of the talk was about the possible future of Indian cricket. The tournament’s success in highlighting young talent helped raise the profiles of players who could go on to feature in other domestic competitions. A big plus was that the BCCI backed this new format politically and administratively, showing that they were ready to try something new to keep the home game interesting. The Duleep Trophy 2024, with its unique structure, did its job as a testing ground for the next generation of Indian players, making it possible for the zonal competition to return in 2025.

• Earlier Seasons

  A major event in India's domestic cricket calendar, the 2023 Duleep Trophy included the usual zonal play between six teams: North East Zone, South East Zone, East Zone, West Zone, Central Zone, and North Zone. Held from June 28 to July 16, 2023, this elite competition gave athletes a chance to show off their prowess and vie for national selection. The competition had a knockout structure, with quarterfinals leading up to the final match.

  The zonal teams competed strongly in the 2023 Duleep Trophy quarterfinals. North Zone defeated North East Zone by an inning and 214 runs in the match at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. Shubman Gill's double century and the bowling tandem of Navdeep Saini and Jaydev Unadkat, who each claimed several wickets, underlined this commanding effort. At Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Central Zone and East Zone squared off in the other quarterfinal. Rinku Singh's strong batting display enabled Central Zone to overcome a small score set by East Zone, winning by five wickets.

  The trend of close encounters and exciting cricket continued in the semi-finals. At the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur, Central Zone played against West Zone. West Zone won the toss and elected to bat first. The match was very engaging, and it ended in a draw. West Zone moved towards the final because of their net run rate. South Zone and North Zone squared off in the other semi-final at Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. By forcing a follow-on, the South Zone demonstrated its superiority by winning by 2 wickets. North Zone's batting order was destroyed by Vidwath Kaverappa's superb five-wicket haul bowling and a good knock by Mayank Agarwal.

  The tournament's final achievement, the match between West Zone and South Zone, took place in Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. West Zone won the toss and elected to field first. South Zone won handily, by 75 runs, to secure the league title. With important wickets in both innings, Vidwath Kaverappa maintained his excellent form, while Hanuma Vihari played a good knock to guarantee South Zone's victory in the competition. West Zone lost because their batting lineup was unable to overcome South Zone's combined bowling attack. The player of the match was Vidwath Kaverappa. In this way, South Zone won the title for the 14th time.

* The tournament was not held in 2015-2016, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022.