How East Zone have fared at Duleep Trophy: Stats
What's the story
India's impending domestic season will mark the return of Duleep Trophy in its traditional inter-zonal format. The iconic red-ball tournament will begin on August 28, with Bengaluru hosting the matches. Duleep Trophy, India's premier First-Class tournament, has seen East Zone win two titles. However, they have not won a trophy in over a decade. Here are further details.
Titles
Two titles in Duleep Trophy
A total of 55 Duleep Trophy editions have been conducted in the zonal format, with East Zone tasting glory twice. They won back-to-back editions (2011/12 and 2012/13), beating Central Zone in both finals. West Zone (19), North Zone (18), South Zone (13), and Central Zone (6) are ahead of East Zone in terms of Duleep Trophy honors.
Information
Finals and match-wins
East Zone have reached seven finals in Duleep Trophy history, winning two of them. Their first-ever appearance in a Duleep Trophy final was back in 1970/71. According to ESPNcricinfo, East Zone have won 19 of their 89 matches, losing 46.
Stats
Most runs and wickets
Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim tops the run tally for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy. Between 1985 and 1999, Karim scored 1,674 runs at an average of 55.80 in the red-ball tournament. Meanwhile, former spinner Utpal Chatterjee remains the only player with over 70 wickets for East Zone. He accounted for 82 wickets from 26 games at an average of 36.41.
Squad
Ishan Kishan to lead East Zone
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan will lead East Zone in the impending edition. Squad: Ishan Kishan (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sandeep Patnaik, Virat Singh, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Riyan Parag, Utkarsh Singh, Manishi, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Shami. Standbys: Mukhtar Hussain, Aasirwad Swain, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Swastik Samal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, and Rahul Singh.
Information
East Zone to take on North Zone in Q1
East Zone will take on North Zone in the 2025 Duleep Trophy opener, the first quarter-final, on August 28. Meanwhile, Central Zone and North East Zone will clash in Quarter-final 2. South Zone and West Zone are already into the semi-finals.