The Duleep Trophy 2025 brings back India’s oldest zonal first-class competition in its traditional format. Starting 28 August 2025 and running till 15 September 2025, the tournament will once again feature six zones fighting for the prestigious title at one venue in Bengaluru.
Where to Watch Live
Fans in India can catch the action live on the JioHotstar app and website. Catch all Duleep Trophy action live on Star Sports Network. For fans abroad, no dedicated broadcaster has been announced, so streaming remains the best option.
Teams & Full Squads
1. South Zone
- Captain: Tilak Varma, Vice-Captain: Mohammed Azharuddeen
Players: Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP
2. East Zone
- Captain: Ishan Kishan, Vice-Captain: Abhimanyu Easwaran
Players: Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami
3. West Zone
- Captain: Shardul Thakur
Players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wicket-keeper), Shams Mulani, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Tanush Kotian, Arzan Nagwaswala
4. North Zone
- Captain: Shubman Gill, Vice-Captain: Ankit Kumar
Players: Shubham Khajuria, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sandhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan
5. Central Zone
- Captain & Wicket-Keeper: Dhruv Jurel
Players: Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Kuldeep Yadav, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed
6. North East Zone
- Captain: Rongsen Jonathan
Players: Ankur Malik, Jehu Anderson, Aryan Bora, Techi Doria, Ashish Thapa, Sedezhalie Rupero, Karnajit Yumnam, Hem Chetri, Palzor Tamang, Arpit Subash Bhatewara (wk), Bishworjit Konthoujam, Pheiroijam Jotin, Ajay Lamabam Singh, Akash Choudhary
Venue & Schedule
- Venue: BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Bengaluru.
- Match Start Time: 9:30 AM IST.
- Quarterfinals (Aug 28-31): North Zone will face East Zone, while Central Zone takes on North East Zone.
- Semifinals (Sep 4-7): South Zone will face the Quarterfinal 1 winner, while West Zone will take on the Quarterfinal 2 winner.
- Final (Sep 11-15): The winners of the two semifinals will face each other for the title.
Tournament Format
- Six zonal teams compete.
- South Zone and West Zone, who reached the 2023 final, begin their campaign straight from the semifinals.
- The remaining four zones play quarterfinals.
- Winners move to the semifinals, and the final decides the champion.
- All matches are multi-day first-class games.
Also read: Explained: Why Ravichandran Ashwin Retired from IPL and What’s Next for Him
A Look Back: History of the Duleep Trophy
The Duleep Trophy began in 1961-62, named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, one of India’s finest early cricketers. Traditionally, it has been played between the five zones of Indian domestic cricket, North, South, East, West, and Central.
- Dominant team: West Zone has historically been the most successful side.
- Format changes: Over the years, the BCCI has experimented with different styles, including leagues, teams based on Ranji Trophy groups, and later mixed squads like India Red, Blue, and Green (2016-20).
- Day-night Tests: In 2016, it also featured pink-ball matches.
- Pause & return: After a brief pause in 2015-16, the tournament was revived. In 2022-23, the zonal format returned, with the North East Zone added to make it a six-team event.
Today, the Duleep Trophy continues to act as a platform for India’s best domestic and international players to test themselves in longer formats.
Conclusion
The Duleep Trophy 2025 brings thrilling cricket while continuing the proud tradition of zonal clashes that have helped shape India’s red-ball cricket. With stars like Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shardul Thakur in action, fans can expect competitive matches and a real test of skill in the longer format. Whether on JioHotstar or through ball-by-ball updates on cricket websites, this year’s edition promises to be worth following.
Written by Kinjal Walantra
