South Zone own 13 Duleep Trophy titles: Key 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 South Zone win 13 titles. They won the last inter-zonal Duleep Trophy edition, in 2023, after beating West Zone in the final. Here are the stats.
Titles
South Zone own 13 titles
A total of 55 Duleep Trophy editions have been conducted in the zonal format, with South Zone tasting glory 13 times. Notably, they won three successive titles between 1965 and 1968. Meanwhile, only West Zone (19) and North Zone (18) have more Duleep Trophy titles than South Zone. No other side has more than 10 such honors.
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Finals and match-wins
South Zone have reached 23 finals in Duleep Trophy history, winning 13 of them. As mentioned, they won the 2023 summit clash. According to ESPNcricinfo, South Zone have won 46 of their 107 matches, losing 39.
Stats
Most runs and wickets for SOZ
Former Indian all-rounder Robin Singh is the highest run-scorer for South Zone in Duleep Trophy history. The former left-handed batter slammed 1,721 runs from 25 games at an average of 46.51. His tally includes 6 tons and 8 half-centuries. Former spinners Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, who represented South Zone, tallied 99 and 95 wickets respectively. Chandrasekhar has 7 fifers to his name.
Squad
Tilak Varma to lead in 2025
Indian batter Tilak Varma will lead SOZ in the impending Duleep Trophy. Squad: Tilak Varma (captain), Mohammed Azharuddeen, Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, Narayan Jagadeesan, Tripurana Vijay, R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nidheesh MD, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar. Standbys: Mohit Redkar, R Smaran, Ankit Sharma, Edhen Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth, and Shaikh Rasheed.
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South Zone to feature in semis
South Zone are already into the semi-finals of Duleep Trophy 2025. They will face the winners of Quarter-final 1 on September 4 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Bengaluru. The final is scheduled for September 11-15.