North Zone meet East Zone in Duleep Trophy: Match preview
What's the story
The Duleep Trophy, India's premier domestic cricket tournament, is back in a zonal format for the 2025 season. The tournament features six teams: North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone, Central Zone and North East Zone. The first quarter-final will see North Zone and East Zone clash at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru. Ahead of a crunch contest, here we present the key details and stats.
Tournament structure
South Zone and West Zone get direct semi-final seeding
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given direct semi-final seeding to South Zone and West Zone. This means that the North Zone vs East Zone match is a knockout contest to see who goes ahead in the tournament. On the other hand, Central Zone take on North East Zone in the 2nd quarter-final tomorrow. Both games will start at 9:30am IST on August 28.
Captaincy shift
North Zone's Shubman Gill to miss match
Initially, India's Test captain Shubman Gill was supposed to lead the North Zone team. Gill, who was recovering from a viral flu, has no issues after a recent blood report test. This indicates a smooth recovery from his viral flu, reported The Times of India. However, the 25-year-old will miss the Duleep Trophy opener. In his absence, Haryana's Ankit Kumar will lead North Zone against East Zone.
Kishan
No Ishan Kishan for East Zone
East Zone captain Ishan Kishan will miss the fixture as he is yet to fully recover from a minor injury he suffered in the UK during his stint at Nottinghamshire. He was replaced by Odisha's Aashirwad Swain in East Zone's squad. As per ESPNcricinfo, Kishan required multiple stitches after falling off an e-bike. Therefore, he wasn't considered as a replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant ahead of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval.
Squads
A look at the squads
North Zone squad for Duleep Trophy opener: Shubham Khajuria, Ankit Kumar (c), Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ankit Kalsi, Nishant Sandhu, Sahil Lotra, Mayank Dagar, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan. East Zone squad for Duleep Trophy opener: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Aasirwad Swain (wk), Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Riyan Parag (vice-captain), Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Mukhtar Hussain and Mohammed Shami.
Stats
Player focus: Decoding the stats
In 103 First-Class matches, East Zone's Abhimanyu Easwaran owns 7,841 runs at 48.70. He has 27 tons and 31 fifties. 661 of his FC runs have come in the Duleep Trophy from 8 matches at 55.08 (100s: 4). Anshul Kamboj, of North Zone, owns 80 FC scalps from 25 matches at 23.71. He owns 2 four-fers and two fifers. In 21 FC games, North Zone's Arshdeep Singh has 66 wickets at 30.37.