Duleep Trophy 2026-27: All you need to know
What's the story
The 2026-27 Indian domestic cricket season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy. The premier First-Class tournament will be played in a zonal format, featuring six teams from different regions of India. The matches will be held in three rounds between August 23 and September 10. Central Zone, led by Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar, will enter as the defending champions.
Format details
Tournament format and schedule
The tournament will see the West, North, East, and North East zones clash in the first round. All matches will be played at BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
Central Zone and last year's runners-up South Zone have already secured their spots in the semi-finals.
The final is scheduled from September 6 at COE Ground 1.
Squads
South and East Zone squads
South Zone: Tilak Varma (captain), Ricky Bhui (vice-captain), Abhinav Tejrana, Shaik Rasheed, K. Himateja, R. Smaran, N. Jagadeesan, Karun Nair, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shreyas Gopal, K. Sai Teja, Tripurana Vijay, Vidwath Kaverappa, Aman Khan, and MD Nideesh.
East Zone: Ishan Kishan (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Kumar Kushagra (wicket-keeper), Shikhar Mohan, Anukul Roy, Virat Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (vice-captain), Denish Das, and Abhijit Sarkar.
Squads
West and North-East Zone squads
West Zone: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Shams Mulani (vice-captain), Prithvi Shaw, Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shivalik Sharma, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Jaymeet Patel, Urvil Patel (wicket-keeper), Siddharth Desai, Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur, Atit Seth, Tushar Deshpande, and Mukesh Chaudhary.
North-East Zone: Techi Neri, Robin Limboo, Bishworjit Singh Konthoujam, Imliwati Lemtur, Kishan Lyndoh, Joseph Lal Thankhuma, Arpit Subhas, Priyojit K, Ronald Meitei, Akash Kumar Choudhary, Vino G. Zhimomi, Lalrempuia, Jonathan Rongsen, Jotin Singh Pheiroijam, and Ashish Thapa.
Information
Central Zone squad
Central Zone: Rajat Patidar (captain), Rinku Singh (vice-captain), Aryan Juyal (wicket-keeper), Saransh Jain, Aman Mokhade, Kunal Chandela, Zeeshan Ansari, Aryan Pandey, Arshad Khan, Ayush Pandey, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathod (wicket-keeper), Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhute. The North Zone squad is yet to be announced.
Career launchpad
A platform for young cricketers
The Duleep Trophy has traditionally served as a pivotal stepping stone for India's emerging cricketers, offering them a chance to shine in the domestic circuit.
The tournament's zonal structure brings together some of the finest talent from across the country, creating a highly competitive environment.
With several India hopefuls and experienced domestic stars in action, the competition is expected to produce some riveting in-game contests.