Central Zone own six Duleep Trophy titles: Decoding stats
What's the story
The Central Zone team boasts a strong line-up in the upcoming 2025 Duleep Trophy. The premier First-Class tournament will be underway on August 28. Dhruv Jurel, who had replaced injured Rishabh Pant during India's Test series-leveling win at The Oval, will captain the team with Rajat Patidar as his deputy. On this note, let's look at Central Zone's performance in Duleep Trophy history.
Titles
Six titles in tournament history
Central Zone have tasted the glory just six times across the 55 Duleep Trophy editions that have been conducted in the zonal format. They trail West Zone (19), North Zone (18), South Zone (13) in terms of Duleep Trophy titles. Notably, it took CEZ more than 30 seasons since the inception of the Duleep Trophy in 1961 to clinch their maiden title. The 1996 edition ended their trophy drought.
Final feats
16 appearances in the final
The Central Zone team has also made the fourth-most final appearances in Duleep Trophy history, 16. Across their 97 matches in the tournament so far, CEZ have won 26, lost 45, and drawn 26. The only other sides with 25-plus victories are WEZ (56), NEZ (51), and SEZ (43).
Star players
Most runs and wickets for CEZ
Former batter Aakash Chopra, who also represented NOZ besides CEZ, is the fifth-highest run-getter in Duleep Trophy history, having slammed 1,918 runs at 53.27. Mohammad Kaif scored 1,827 runs in the tourney - all for CEZ, at a stunning average of 67.66. With 126 scalps at 34.12, Narendra Hirwani continues to be the highest wicket-taker in the tourney.
Information
Two team totals of 600-plus
Central Zone declared at 641/7 against East Zone in 1989. Their only other 600-plus score was 628/6d North Zone in 1989 as well. CEZ won these games before losing to South Zone in the final.
Tournament structure
Traditional format returns
The Duleep Trophy this season will feature a knockout format, unlike last year's round-robin. The finalists from the previous zonal edition (2023), South Zone and West Zone, will directly play the semifinals. The other four teams—Central, East, North, and North East—will compete in the quarterfinals. CEZ will meet North East Zone. The first two quarterfinals are scheduled for August 28-31 at Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence.
Information
Here is the Central Zone squad
Squad: Dhruv Jurel (c & wk), Rajat Patidar, Aryan Juyal, Danish Malewar, Sanchit Desai, Kuldeep Yadav, Aditya Thakare, Deepak Chahar, Saransh Jain, Ayush Pandey, Shubham Sharma, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed. Stand-bys: Madhav Kaushik, Yash Thakur, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Mahipal Lomror, Kuldeep Sen, Upendra Yadav.