The Duleep Trophy is set to return in its inter-zonal format and will be held in Bengaluru from August 28 to September 15. All matches will take place at the Centre of Excellence grounds and the tournament will follow a knockout structure.
Six zones — South, Central, West, East, North, and North-East — will compete. South and West Zones have been directly seeded into the semifinals, while the quarterfinals will feature:
- North Zone vs East Zone
- Central Zone vs North-East Zone
(both from August 28 to 31)
The semifinals will be played from September 4 to 7, followed by the final starting September 11.
The Duleep Trophy has gone through multiple format changes in recent years. From 2016-17 to 2019-20, it featured randomly picked squads — India A, B, C, and D. The tournament returned to the zonal format in 2022-23, briefly switched back to the A-B-C-D format last season, and now returns once again to the traditional zonal setup, following a BCCI decision at its last AGM. The competition was also paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Irani Cup Allotted to Nagpur
The Irani Cup, a five-day annual fixture between Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India, will be held in Nagpur, the home city of defending champions Vidarbha.
A point of intrigue ahead of the match is the availability of Karun Nair, who was part of Vidarbha’s title-winning squad last season but has now returned to represent Karnataka. Interestingly, Nair hasn’t been selected in the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy.
Domestic Transfer Updates
- Rasikh Salam, the 26-year-old pacer, has moved from Jammu & Kashmir to Baroda after receiving an NOC from the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
- Jitesh Sharma, previously with Vidarbha, will also play for Baroda as a professional player this season.
On the women’s front, Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) has signed Shikha Pandey and Poonam Khemnar for its senior team ahead of the upcoming season.
