The Duleep Trophy reaches its business end on Sunday with defending champions Central Zone taking on an East Zone side brimming with confidence, while last year’s runners-up South Zone face North Zone. The last-four stage promises an intriguing contest, with East and North having negotiated the quarterfinal hurdle while Central and South received direct entry.
East Zone recorded a crushing victory over North East Zone in their quarterfinal, while North Zone scraped through a tense knockout thanks largely to left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq. Central, led by Rajat Patidar for the second successive season, and South, last year’s runner-up, will have to hit the ground running despite not having played a game in the tournament.
Central, however, have
the advantage of continuity, having retained a strong core from the side that lifted the trophy last year. Patidar comes into the tournament on the back of a prolific season in the IPL and MP T20 League, while vice-captain Rinku Singh adds experience to the middle order.
Their biggest strength could be the bowling depth. Saransh Jain, who impressed under trying circumstances in the drawn second Test against Sri Lanka, and Harsh Dubey, who recently featured in the ODIs against Afghanistan, form a quality spin combination. Yash Thakur adds pace and first-class experience, while Zeeshan Ansari, rewarded for his recent performances, will be another player to watch.
East, though, would want to build on their momentum with the young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi being at the cynosure once again. East Zone were ruthless in the quarterfinals, crushing North East Zone by an innings and 210 runs, with Bengal’s Sudip Gharami and Shahbaz Ahmed striking commanding centuries.
Last year’s runners-up South Zone have the experience to go one step further, with new captain Tilak Varma leading a strong batting unit featuring Ricky Bhui, Narayan Jagadeesan, and Karun Nair.
North Zone, however, arrive with the confidence of surviving a tight knockout, edging the star-studded West Zone by 52 runs in the quarterfinal.
Teams qualified for Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinals
- Central Zone
- South Zone
- East Zone
- North Zone
Venues to host Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinals
- BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, Bengaluru
- BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2, Bengaluru
Duleep Trophy 2026 Semifinals Schedule
| DATES | MATCH | TEAMS | VENUE | START TIME (IST) |
| August 30-September 2 | 1st semifinal | Central Zone vs East Zone | BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1, Bengaluru | 09:30 AM |
| August 30-September 2 | 2nd semifinal | South Zone vs North Zone | BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2, Bengaluru | 09:30 AM |
Squads
North Zone: Kanhaiya Wadhawan (C & WK), Ayush Badoni (VC), Yash Dhull, Sanat Sangwan, Nishant Sindhu, Abdul Samad, Abid Mushtaq, Arjun Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Sunil Kumar, Anshul Kamboj, Qamran Iqbal, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ayush Doseja, Nikhil Kashyap, Gurnoor Brar
South Zone: Tilak Varma (C), Ricky Bhui (VC), Abhinav Tejrana, Shaik Rasheed, K M Himateja, R Smaran, Narayan Jagadeesan, Karun Nair, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shreyas Gopal, K Sai Teja, Tripurana Vijay, Vidwath Kaverappa, Aman Khan, M D Nideesh
East Zone: Ishan Kishan (C & WK), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (VC), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Subhranshu Senapati, Virat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anukul Roy, Abhijit K Sarkar, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Denish Das, Kumar Kushagra, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Shikhar Mohan
Central Zone: Rajat Patidar (C), Rinku Singh (VC), Aryan Juyal, Saransh Jain, Aman Mokhade, Kunal Chandela, Zeeshan Ansari, Aryan Pandey, Arshad Khan, Ayush Pandey, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathod, Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute
Live Streaming and Telecast Details
Both semifinals of the Duleep Trophy 2026 will be live-streamed on the Jio Hotstar app and website, while Star Sports Khel will provide live television coverage of the matches.
