The prestigious Duleep Trophy will return to its inter-zonal format this season and will be held in Bengaluru from August 28 to September 15, the BCCI announced today.
All matches will be played at the Centre of Excellence grounds in a knockout format, featuring six zones South, Central, West, East, North, and North-East. South Zone and West Zone have been seeded directly into the semifinals.
The quarterfinals, scheduled from August 28 to 31, will see North Zone take on East Zone and Central Zone face North-East Zone. The winners will advance to the semifinals, to be held from September 4 to 7, followed by the final from September 11.
The Duleep Trophy, which was played among zonal teams until the 2015-16 season, was replaced by randomly selected teams ? India A, B, C, and D ? between 2016-17 and 2019-20. The tournament reverted to its zonal format in 2022-23 but again used the A-B-C-D structure last year. Following a decision at the BCCI’s last AGM, the zonal system is now reinstated. The competition was also on hold for two seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Nagpur will host the upcoming Irani Cup, with defending Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha set to face Rest of India in the annual five-day fixture.
A key talking point ahead of the game is the status of Karun Nair, who played a pivotal role in Vidarbha’s title-winning run last season but has since returned to Karnataka. He has not been picked in the South Zone Duleep Trophy squad.
