Taking a deep dive into the history of the Duleep Trophy: The Duleep Trophy has always had a knack for producing memorable contests. In the 1987 final, Raman Lamba smashed a game-breaking 320 as North Zone piled up a gargantuan 868 in response to West Zone’s 444 to win the title. Around four years later, Sachin Tendulkar, the teenage sensation, composed a brilliant 159 for West Zone, while Sourav Ganguly himself scored a valiant hundred for East Zone. Eventually, West Zone came out on top. In the 2004-05 tournament, when South Zone locked horns with West Zone, South had Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, L Balaji and Vinay Kumar in their ranks. West, meanwhile, had Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Wasim Jaffer, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan.
That match is fondly remembered for Kumble castling Tendulkar. For fans from a bygone era, it could instead be about B Chandrasekhar combining with Erapalli Prasanna to take all 20 wickets against Central Zone in 1965. More recently, in 2024, when the teams were divided into India A, India B, India C and India D, the cricket cognoscenti were glued to the action. India A took on India C in a crucial encounter, with Sai Sudharsan cracking a gallant hundred while Baba Indrajith walked out to bat despite carrying an injury, only to be dismissed by Prasidh Krishna. The result was a thrilling win for India A as they lifted the trophy.
The matches mentioned above say enough about the quality of the Duleep Trophy. When some of the best players in the country take on each other, it often leads to classic encounters. This time around, North Zone will take on South Zone, while defending champions Central Zone will meet East Zone in the other semifinal. Let’s delve deeper into both games.
South Zone vs North Zone
The match will be played at the Centre of Excellence Ground 2. On paper, North Zone appear to have a clear upper hand. For a moment, just think about North’s pace attack: Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Anshul Kamboj, Yudhvir Singh and the effective Sunil Kumar. With the tall, hit-the-deck bowler Gurnoor added to the squad, North have the resources to put a batting unit under serious pressure. Abid Mushtaq’s left-arm spin adds further variety to the attack. Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad and Co. will be the mainstays of the batting unit.
North also overcame West Zone in a hard-fought quarterfinal, and that result would have boosted their confidence. There was some controversy surrounding Yash Dhull being picked ahead of the in-form Sanat Sangwan for that game. With Dhull failing to make a significant contribution in the last-eight clash, there is a decent chance Sangwan could come into the XI against South.
Meanwhile, with the Karnataka trio of KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal not playing — all three have just returned to India after featuring in both Tests in Sri Lanka — South Zone appear to be a depleted side.
Among the batters, R Smaran is someone to keep an eye on. The left-hander has an unflappable temperament and could be important at the top of the order. Tilak Varma will lead the side, while Karun Nair, Vidwath Kaverappa and Shreyas Gopal will also be expected to put in strong performances. Also watch out for Tripurana Vijay, a promising off-spinner.
East Zone vs Central Zone
East Zone reached the semifinals after trouncing North-East Zone and will now take on Central Zone in a last-four clash. Rajat Patidar, the seasoned campaigner, is leading a Central Zone squad that comprises Yash Rathod, Rinku Singh, Arshad Khan, Zeeshan Ansari, Yash Thakur and Harsh Dubey. On the other side, most of the eyeballs will be on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in East Zone’s squad. The youngster will be hoping to make his mark in first-class cricket after scoring just eight runs against North-East Zone.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, veteran Mohammed Shami and Kumar Kushagra will also be hoping to show their wares. On paper, the second semifinal, to be played at CoE Ground 1, could be a contest between two evenly matched sides.
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