Duleep Trophy 2025 semi-finals: Here's all you need to know
What's the story
The semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy 2025 will be played from September 4 to 7 at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. North Zone and Central Zone qualified for this stage after securing first-innings leads in their respective quarter-final matches on Sunday. They will take on West Zone and South Zone, who directly advanced to this stage by virtue of being last year's finalists. Here are further details.
Quarter-final
North Zone dominate East Zone
A dominant show from North Zone has powered them to the semi-finals of the 2025 Duleep Trophy. Their quarter-final clash against East Zone ended in a draw in Bengaluru. However, NZone advanced to the next stage thanks to a massive 175-run first innings lead. Ankit Kumar, Yash Dhull, and Ayush Badoni were the centurions in the game. Auqib Nabi took a double hat-trick in the match.
Quarter-final
Central Zone's thumping show vs North East Zone
In the other semi-final, Central Zone went past North East Zone. Tons from Danish Malewar (203) and Rajat Patidar (125) meant CZONE declared at 532/4d while batting first. They gained a mammoth first-innings lead as NEZONE's first innings ended at just 185/10. Central Zone declared their second innings at 331/7d as Shubham Sharma played a 122-run knock. Chasing 679, NEZONE finished at 200/6.
Match-ups
Here is the schedule
The semi-final matches will see North Zone clash with South Zone at Centre of Excellence Ground 1, while West Zone take on Central Zone at Ground 2. The Duleep Trophy 2025 semi-finals won't be streamed live. Reports suggest that only the final of this tournament will be available for live streaming. However, fans can catch live scorecard for both matches on BCCI's official website.
Information
Here is the West Zone squad
West Zone: Shardul Thakur (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aarya Desai, Harvik Desai (wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jaymeet Patel, Manan Hingrajia, Saurabh Nawale (wicket-keeper), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Dharmandrasinh Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Arzan Nagwaswala; (Standbys: Mahesh Pithiya, Shivalik Shama, Mukesh Choudhary, Siddharath Desai, Chintan Gaja, Urvil Patel, Musheer Khan).
Information
Here is the South Zone squad
South Zone: Mohammed Azharuddeen (c), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar, Ankit Sharma, Shaikh Rasheed; (Standbys: Mohit Redkar, R. Smaran, Edhen Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth).
Information
Here is the North Zone squad
North Zone: Ankit Kumar (c), Shubham Khajuria, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sandhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan; (Standbys: Shubham Arora (wk), Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ravi Chauhan, Abid Mushtaq, Nishunk Birla, Umar Nazir, Divesh Sharma).
Information
Here is the Central Zone squad
Central Zone: Dhruv Jurel (c/wk), Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanjeet Desai, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed; (Standbys: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav).
Performers
South Zone vs North Zone: Key players
Auqib Nabi claimed a fifer against EZONE in the quarter-final game. His spell also included a double hat-trick (4 wickets in consecutive balls). Badoni bolstered NZONE's first innings with a brisk 60-ball 63. He backed that fifty with his second FC double-hundred. SZONE's Devdutt Padikkal will hold the key in the batting department. He boasts 2,815 FC runs at 41.39. Gurjapneet Singh averaged 19.69 with the ball in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, having claimed 13 wickets.
Performers
West Zone vs Central Zone: Key players
CZONE captain Rajat Patidar scored a brisk 96-ball 125 on Day 1 of the quarter-final clash. He backed that hundred with a 66-run knock. Yash Rathod also powered CZONE with twin fifties in the game (87 & 78). Coming to West Zone, Shreyas Iyer will hold the key in the batting arena. He finished the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy with 480 runs at 68.57. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has already established himself as India's mainstay Test opener, will also serve WZONE.