Duleep Trophy scheduled to begin from August 28 in Bengaluru
All matches will be played at the Centre of Excellence grounds.
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The prestigious Duleep Trophy is set to make a comeback in its traditional inter-zonal format, with the 2025-26 edition scheduled to take place in Bengaluru from August 28 to September 15. All matches will be played at the Centre of Excellence grounds, following a knockout format that involves six zones, including South, Central, West, East, North, and North-East.
After years of format changes, including the India A, B, C, D team model and a pandemic-induced gap, the BCCI has gone back to the classic zonal structure, as decided at its last Annual General Meeting. This decision was made to strengthen regional cricket and provide players a platform to shine within their respective zones.
From 2016-17 to 2019-20, the tournament featured randomly selected teams (India A-D), before moving to zonal teams in 2022-23. Last season again saw the A-D model in use. Now, with the zonal format back, selectors from each region will build their squads.
The Duleep Trophy 2025-26 will feature two quarterfinals, North Zone vs East Zone and Central Zone vs North-East Zone. These matches will be played from August 28 to 31. South Zone and West Zone, which are directly seeded into the semifinals (September 4 to 7), will await the quarterfinal winners. The tournament will culminate with the final on September 11.
Duleep Trophy 2025: Patidar out, Wadkar to lead Central Zone
Tilak Varma to lead South Zone
India batter Tilak Varma will captain South Zone, with Kerala's Mohammed Azharuddeen named vice-captain. Kerala's strong performance has earned selections for Salman Nizar, MD Nidheesh, and Nedumankuzhy Basil, apart from Azharuddeen. Devdutt Padikkal, who recovered from a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the second half of IPL 2025, returns to strengthen the lineup, joined by Karnataka pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak.
Hyderabad’s Tanmay Agarwal, the third-highest scorer in the last Ranji season with 934 runs at 77.83, is also in the team. Tamil Nadu’s R Sai Kishore and Gurjapneet Singh, along with wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan, complete the core of the squad. Former India pacer L Balaji has been appointed as head coach.
Big names like B Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, and Prasidh Krishna are missing, likely due to potential selection for the Asia Cup 2025, scheduled in the UAE from September 9.
Meanwhile, the Irani Cup will take place in Nagpur, with Vidarbha, the defending Ranji champions, facing Rest of India. Karun Nair, who played for Vidarbha last season but has since returned to Karnataka, hasn’t been picked for the South Zone squad.
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