The quarter finals of the Duleep Trophy 2025 are over, with two teams moving onto the semi-finals. On the basis of the first innings lead, North Zone and Central Zone confirmed their tickets to play in the semi-final round. 

The match between North Zone and East Zone turned out to be a one-sided affair. Ayush Badoni (204 not out) scored a double ton and remained not out on the wicket, while skipper Ankit Kumar (198) and Yash Dhull (133) settled for hundred-plus knocks. East Zone with their star bowlers Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar failed to impress with their bowling. Manishi surprised in the first innings of the multi-day match by taking 6 wickets, but in the second phase of the match he remained wicketless. 

The Central Zone vs Northeast Zone games were comparatively more competitive than the other match. The Northeast Zone tried their best to possibly turn around, but the Central Zone did not lose their grip on the match. Skipper Rajat Patidar's century and Danish Malewar's double century helped Central Zone to create a comfortable first innings lead. 

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Duleep Trophy 2025 Quarterfinal results:

Quarter Final 1: North Zone vs East Zone: 28 Aug - 31 Aug 2025, 9:30 IST, BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru- 

North Zone: 405 (93.2 Ov) and 658/4 d (146.2 Ov)

East Zone: 230 (56.1 Ov)

Quarter Final 2: Central Zone vs NortheastZone: 28 Aug - 31 Aug 2025, 9:30 IST, BCCI COE Ground 2, Bengaluru-

Central Zone: 532/4 d (102.0 Ov) and 331/7 d (80.3 Ov)

NortheastZone: 200/6 (58.0 Ov) and 185 (69.3 Ov)

Duleep Trophy 2025 upcoming fixtures:

Semifinal 1: South Zone vs. North Zone: 4 Sep - 7 Sep 2025, 9:30 IST, BCCI COE Ground 1, Bengaluru.

Semifinal 2: West Zone vs. Central Zone: 4 Sep - 7 Sep 2025, 9:30 IST, BCCI COE Ground 2, Bengaluru. 

India's domestic cricket season began on Thursday with the long-standing Duleep Trophy at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The red-ball competition, which has been a major identifying feature of zonal teams over many years, included the best players from the various zones in the country. But fans who anticipated the kick-off of the domestic cricket season were left in limbo when they discovered that there had been no live streaming or telecast of the games.

The lack of live coverage disappointed many fans, particularly Indian fans who have not seen any cricket since the India-England Test Series. Fans expressed their disappointment on social media, claiming that there is no reason for some plucky outsider league to be televised and not domestic events that showcase talent from 12 teams.

According to the Times of India, the BCCI's broadcasting contract allows for a limited number of Indian cricket telecast days in a year. So, the only telecast and live-streamed game is the Duleep Trophy final (September 11–15). While this explains why early rounds would not have live coverage, it has not placated the zealous, apparently domestic-cricket-deprived fans who maintained that domestic cricket needs more attention.

No Live Streaming for Duleep Trophy Sparks Fan Frustration

"Only the Duleep Trophy final will be shown live on television and streamed. But as far as fan engagement is concerned, there needs to be a lot more," a source close to the process told TOI. 

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It's notable that most cricket boards around the world, including some without large amounts of resources, have their own YouTube channels with domestic matches streamed live. So why doesn't BCCI, the richest cricket board in the world, take these steps to enable fans to access domestic cricket? 

Day 1 of the 2025 edition featured East Zone vs North Zone and North East Zone against Central Zone, with characters like Mohammed Shami, Rajat Patidar, and Mukesh Kumar on show. Live streaming was anticipated on JioHotstar as the previous edition did, but the BCCI was clear this week that only live scores would be found on the BCCI website and official mobile app. 

With demand for better coverage on the raised, the lack of live streaming again brings into question the visibility of domestic cricket in India, and fans can only hope that the BCCI is taking note to improve accessibility for domestic cricket in the coming editions.

The inception of the Buchi Babu Memorial Cricket Tournament dates back to 1909, following the death of Mothavarapu Venkata Mahipathi Naidu, who was also known by the name of Buchi Babu Naidu. Naidu was a prominent cricketing figure from Southern India. His contributions to Madras cricket at that time made him earn the coveted title of "Father of Madras Cricket." 

Just like the entire nation, the city of Madras, in which Naidu was based, was under British occupation. Times were hard during the pre-colonial times, but he did not let his struggles deter him from pursuing his cricketing ambitions. Naidu laid the initial foundation by establishing the Madras United Cricket Club, which subsequently led him to coin the concept of a Presidency Match, a contest between local Indian players and the English Madras Cricket Club. Moreover, right before his eventual demise, he organized a number of cricket matches and provided cricketing gear and attire to the deserving players. 

After his death, the local clubs around Madras initiated the Buchi Babu Memorial Tournament starting in 1909–10 as a tribute to him. Shortly after gaining independence, the tournament evolved into an invitational format in the late 1960s, attracting interest from several teams from across India, such as the State Bank of India, Associated Cement Companies (ACC), Nirlon, and Mafatlal, to name a few. 

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Participating Teams

During the colonial era, the tournament was restricted to a handful of clubs in and around Madras. But all of that changed forever when the league fell under the jurisdiction of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) in the 1960s. An invitational format was proposed by the governing body, and the league soon started featuring a diverse array of cricket teams and clubs all across India. The teams that expressed their interest in participating in this prestigious tournament were classified into two broad categories—Employer-based teams (E.g., State Bank of India, ACC, Nirlon) & State and association teams (E.g., Mumbai CA XI, TNCA President’s XI, Kerala).

However, in the contemporary era, the tournament has evolved in leaps and bounds as it now features anywhere between 12 to 16 teams, drawn from across the country. These teams are then grouped into three or four different groups, with three to four teams each.  

Format & Schedule

The Buchi Babu Memorial Cricket Tournament is played in a multi-day format. The league stage lasts for a maximum of three days, whereas the knockout games are played over the course of four days. Each playing day comprises a minimum of 6.5 hours of play with a requirement to bowl a minimum of 95 overs. Each group plays in a round-robin format, and the top teams progress to the semi-final and then the final. 

The tournament is held in the month of August-September and acts as a precursor to India's domestic season, which involves notable tournaments like the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and SMAT (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy). 

Impact and Legacy of the Bachi Babu Tournament

The Bachi Babu tournament serves as a key foundation for the budding cricketers of Tamil Nadu and gives them the exposure to prepare them for their next big cricketing challenge, i.e., Ranji side selection. Big legends such as Sunil Gavaskar also got a taste of playing in this auspicious league. Given his aura, Gavaskar once attracted nearly 10,000 spectators when he was playing for the ACC. Besides, modern-day greats also participate in this tournament to hone their skills in red-ball cricket just before the start of the Indian domestic season. Some of the notable names include, but are not limited to, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Sarfaraz Khan.

After the tireless Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, where the new Indian Test captain Shubman Gill won the Player of the Series award for India after ending the series as the leading run-scorer, he isn't taking a long rest, as he is ready to lead North Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2025-26. Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reacted to this latest news.

It was quite surprising that the Indian Test captain Shubman Gill decided to play the Duleep Trophy 2025-26, where he will lead North Zone, and they will start the tournament from the Quarter-final round with the match against East Zone. The 25-year-old cricketer scored 754 runs in 10 innings in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 in England with the help of four centuries, including one double-hundred. As that five-match Test series was a very busy schedule, which India drew 2-2, Gill's presence in the upcoming Duleep Trophy was quite unexpected, which will start from August 28. 

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The Indian skipper is sending the right signal: Sunil Gavaskar on Shubman Gill's presence in Duleep Trophy

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar is very happy with Gill's decision to appear in the Duleep Trophy. The former Indian captain believes that it sends the right signal to the entire team. 

In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar expressed his feeling by writing, “Shubman Gill, captaining the North Zone team, is a massive shot in the arm for this tournament. By being available, the Indian skipper is sending the right signal to the other members of the team. It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest."

The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking: Sunil Gavaskar

On the other hand, the Indian fast bowlers, who were present in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, are mostly not playing in the upcoming Duleep Trophy season. Gavaskar feels it is a sensible decision that these pacers will not be present in the forthcoming Zonal tournament. 

Gavaskar added, “The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking, as it has been an unusually hot summer in England, thanks to global warming, and their energies must have been expended after the untiring spells they bowled throughout the series.” 

As the Indian national team players are prioritizing domestic cricket, it is massive news. Last season, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, etc., returned to the Ranji Trophy. While India failed to reach the Final of the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship, after reaching the first two Finals and finishing as the runners-up on both occasions, the Indian red-ball team now seems serious and desperate to participate in the next ICC WTC Final to get a chance to win it for the first time. 

Shreyas Iyer, who has earned success of late in the white-ball format for India and in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for the Punjab Kings (PBKS), played his last Test match for the national side more than 18 months ago against England at Vizag. With a huge home season coming with four Tests against the West Indies and South Africa, he eyes a Test recall for the Blue Brigade.

Iyer hasn’t earned the same success in the longest format with 811 runs in 24 innings at an average of 36.86 and a strike rate of 63.01, thanks to five half-centuries and one century at the best score of 105 runs. Overall, in the first-class format, the India batter has accumulated 6363 runs in 137 innings at 48.57 with 15 centuries and 33 fifties.

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The veteran has expressed his availability to take part in the upcoming Duleep Trophy for the West Zone as the event kicks off from August 28, with the zonal selection set to happen on August 01. Apart from him, Shivam Dubey and Sarfaraz Khan have also reached the MCA on their full availability, as the reports claimed.

Shreyas Iyer expresses desire to feature in Duleep Trophy 2025: Reports

Iyer led the Punjab side to the final of the IPL 2025, where they lost the contest to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The right-handed batter smashed 604 runs in 17 innings at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07, with the help of six half-centuries.

It’s not clear whether the selection committee would go with the players involved in the away series against England. They had been away from home for the last 10 weeks and deserve a break before the upcoming home season. The West zone selectors are likely to avoid Ravindra Jadeja in the side, even though Shardul Thakur remains available.

The south zone has recently named Tilak Verma as their captain, and they decided not to include KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and Washington Sundar. The 2025-26 domestic season will begin on August 28, while the Ranji Trophy starts on October 15, with the opening phase going on till November 19.

Duleep Trophy 2025-26 is returning in an inter-zonal format, the previous format, while eliminating the latest played format, A-B-C-D. Apart from the revelation of the Duleep Trophy 2025-26 complete fixtures, the Irani Cup venue has also been decided.   

The six-team Duleep Trophy 2025-26 will run between August 28 and September 15, 2025. The six teams are South Zone, West Zone, North Zone, East Zone, Central Zone, and North-East Zone. Bengaluru venues BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground and BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground B will host all the upcoming Duleep Trophy matches. 

While South Zone and West Zone have been directly seeded to the Semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy 2025-26, the other four teams will start the tournament from the quarter-finals. 

Meanwhile, Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur will host the Irani Cup 2025/26, while the five-day match will be played between October 1 and 5, 2025. While Vidarbha won their third Ranji Trophy last season after beating Kerala in the Final, they will host Rest of India in this season's Irani Cup. 

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Duleep Trophy 2025-26: Full Schedule

Quarter-finals: August 28-31

• North Zone vs East Zone at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground (Bengaluru)
• Central Zone vs North-East Zone at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground B (Bengaluru)

Semi-finals: September 4-7

• South Zone vs TBD at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground (Bengaluru)
• West Zone vs TBD at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground B (Bengaluru)

Final: September 11-15

• TBD vs TBD at BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground (Bengaluru)

Reported South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy 2025-26

Tilak Varma (Captain), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vice-capt, wk), Tanmay Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, N Jagadeesan (wk), T Vijay, R Sai Kishore, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, MD Nidheesh, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar.

Stand-bys: Mohit Redkar, R Smaran, Ankit Sharma, Eden Apple Tom, Andre Siddarth, Shaikh Rasheed

Head Coach: Lakshmipathy Balaji

Irani Cup 2025-26

• Vidarbha vs Rest of India at Nagpur on October 1-5 

As the monsoon season is getting over, India’s domestic season for the 2025-26 period is starting. And it will kick off with the Duleep Trophy 2025. Hyderabad’s Tilak Verma will lead the South Zone in the opening competition, which will begin in late August. It will return to its previous format, where the competition will be contested by six zonal teams.

Unlike the last years, the South, North, East, and West zones will be back to replace the India A, B, C, and D sides, picked by the senior men’s national selection committee. Tilak Verma has got the chance to lead the side despite missing out on the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 due to his international commitments.

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Kerala batter, Mohammed Azharuddeen, who had creamed some fabulous performances during the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, has been named the vice-captain. Four members of the Kerala side, which made its maiden Ranji final appearance, have been included in the squad. The tournament is always valued for high-intense games between some of the top international and domestic players.

Star MI player Tilak Verma to lead South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025

Tamil Nadu’s wicket-keeper batter, N Jagadeesan, earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team as a replacement for Rishabh Pant for the fifth Test of the five-match series at the Kennington Oval in South London. The southpaw, who fractured his toe, reportedly, has been advised to rest for six weeks. Another international left-handed batter, Devdutt Padikkal, has also been included along with R Sai Kishore.

Karnataka’s Ravichandran Smaran is not in the squad, which is a surprising factor given that the left-handed batter smashed 516 runs in his debut season in 10 innings at an average of 64.50 with two centuries. The other squads for the tournament are expected to be revealed in the next few weeks.

South Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025

Tilak Varma (c) (Hyderabad), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vc) (Kerala), Tanmay Agarwal (Hyderabad), Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka), Mohit Kale (Pondicherry), Salman Nizar (Kerala), Narayan Jagadeesan (Tamil Nadu), Tripurana Vijay (Andhra), R Sai Kishore (Tamil Nadu), Tanay Thyagarajan (Hyderabad), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Karnataka), Nidheesh MD (Kerala), Ricky Bhui (Andhra), Basil NP (Kerala), Gurjapneet Singh (Tamil Nadu), Snehal Kauthankar (Goa).

Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain and India batter, will not be taking part in the upcoming Duleep Trophy. The BCCI medical team at the Centre of Excellence has recommended rest for him as he recovers from a hand injury.

Patidar was under consideration for India’s tour of England but missed the opportunity due to this injury, which occurred during RCB’s title-winning run in IPL 2025. His performance in the tournament was pivotal to their campaign, but the injury came at a crucial time.

Though Patidar has already made his Test debut for India, he has struggled to maintain a consistent spot in the squad. Repeated injury setbacks have hindered his progress on the international stage, making it difficult for him to cement his place on the national side.

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Rajat Patidar out of Duleep Trophy:

Rajat Patidar is steadily making a case for a spot in India’s T20I squad, especially after showcasing his batting talent in the recent IPL season. However, his current priority is to fully recover from injury. Once fit, he is expected to return to domestic action, aiming to perform strongly in the upcoming Ranji Trophy campaign.

As per Times of India, a source said, “ Rajat is training at MP’s off-season camp, but he’s not been batting, as he has been advised to take a break and recover from the injury in his right hand by the BCCI’s medical team. He will miss the Duleep Trophy but should be fine for the Ranji Trophy.”

LSG Pacers Also Recovering from Injury:

In addition to Patidar, Lucknow Super Giants’ pacers Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, and Mohsin Khan are currently recovering from surgeries done in June after IPL 2025 ended. The trio is likely to be sidelined for about six months as they focus on their rehabilitation and aim to return fully fit for future competitions.

Mayank Yadav featured in just two games for Lucknow Super Giants during IPL 2025 before a back injury forced him out of the tournament. He has since undergone a successful surgery. On the international front, Mayank has represented India in three T20Is, all coming against Bangladesh in 2024, marking the early stages of his national team journey. A source said, “ He’s out for six to eight months.”

Meanwhile, Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan both had knee surgeries. Avesh underwent a procedure on his right knee after facing issues during the 2024/25 domestic season, which also kept him out of Madhya Pradesh’s final Ranji Trophy league game and early IPL 2025 matches. Mohsin had ACL reconstruction on his right knee after suffering the injury during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The three pacers are set to miss the opening phase of the 2025-26 domestic season and are expected to make their comeback in the latter half of the Ranji Trophy next year. They will continue their recovery and rehabilitation at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

Mohammed Shami is poised to make a return to domestic cricket with Bengal. In a recently published report by ESPNcricinfo, the India pacer was named in Bengal's expanded list of 50 probables for the upcoming domestic season.

There is a possibility of his return in domestic matches through the Duleep Trophy, which is set to back its old inter-zonal format and set to begin on August 28. According to some possibilities, the experienced seamer can mark his return as a part of the East Zone.

The star bowler of the country had to struggle with multiple injury issues. Though he made his way back to competitive matches after recovering from injuries, his fitness still remains under the scanner. The Uttar Pradesh-born has not played for India since the Champions Trophy in early 2025, where India finished their campaign successfully and Shami got nine wickets in five games. Despite a memorable run, Shami's international career did not look the same as it was before.

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Career with a lot highs and lows

A part of cricket fans expected to see his name in the squad list for the England vs. India 5-match Test series. But the selectors did not find Mohammed Shami perfectly fit for the task.

 The 34-year-old's performance in the IPL 2025 was way below the expectations. The bowler who has 64 Test matches, 108 ODIs, and 25 T20Is experience under his belt plucked only six wickets in nine bowling innings and leaked 11.23 runs per over on average, which did not justify his caliber. After remaining outside the field for a long period of time, mostly because of his ankle surgery and knee-related issues, Shami made his domestic comeback with Bengal in late 2024.

BCCI Announces Big Changes for 2025–26 Domestic Cricket Season: Full Schedule Out

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has changed and took some big updates for the 2025–26 domestic season, along with the full schedule. One of the main changes is that the Duleep Trophy will go back to its old format zonal teams picked by zonal selectors. Last season, it was played between four mixed Indian teams, but now it will once again be North, South, East, West, and Central Zones competing.

In the Ranji Trophy, the promotion system has been made stricter. Now, only one team from the Plate Group will move up to the Elite Group, and only one team will drop down. This means fewer teams will change groups this season.

There’s also a new twist in India’s domestic T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Instead of knockout matches after the group stage, there will now be a Super League. The top 8 teams from the group stage will be split into two groups of four. Each team will play 3 matches in their group, and the group winners will face off in the final. This same format will also be used for the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy.

New Grouping for One-Day Tournaments

The Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women’s One Day Trophy, and Men’s U23 State A Trophy will now have a new group format. Earlier, the Vijay Hazare Trophy had five groups of uneven sizes. From now on, all three tournaments will have four Elite Groups and one Plate Group. Teams have been grouped based on their past performances how many matches they won, their total points, and their net run rate. Teams that don’t perform well will be pushed down to the Plate Group for the next season’s limited-overs tournaments.

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When Does the Season Start?

The new domestic season will kick off on August 28, 2025, with the Duleep Trophy, and will end on April 3, 2026, with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy. The entire season will run for a little over five months, packed with exciting matches across all formats.

Key Changes in Indian Domestic Cricket for the 2025–26 Season

The BCCI has made several important updates to the domestic cricket structure for the 2025–26 season. These changes are aimed at making the competitions more competitive and better organized.

Major Updates at a Glance

2025–26 Key Tournament Schedule

India vs New Zealand 2026: Probable ODI & T20I Venues