Mumbai, 14 August (Amar Nath Prasad)
The countdown to the new Indian domestic cricket season has begun, with the Duleep Trophy 2026-27 set to traditionally kick off the red-ball calendar.
Six zones, North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone, Central Zone and North East Zone, will compete for the prestigious title.
In the previous edition, Rajat Patidar-led Central Zone emerged champions after defeating South Zone by six wickets in the final. Patidar will once again captain Central Zone as they aim to defend their title. South Zone, runners-up last season, will be led by Tilak Varma. Ishan Kishan will captain East Zone, while Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead West Zone. Kanhaiya Wadhawan has been named captain of North Zone, with Jonathan Rongsen taking charge of North East Zone.
The tournament brings together an exciting mix of experienced players and emerging talents. The 2026-27 Duleep Trophy will be held at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru from August 23 to September 10.
North Zone Squad
Kanhaiya Wadhawan (Captain & Wicketkeeper) (Jammu & Kashmir), Ayush Badoni (Vice-Captain) (Delhi), Sanat Sangwan (Delhi), Yash Dhull (Delhi), Ayush Doseja (Delhi), Nishant Sindhu (Haryana), Anshul Kamboj (Haryana), Nikhil Kashyap (Haryana), Qamran Iqbal (Jammu & Kashmir), Abdul Samad (Jammu & Kashmir), Abid Mushtaq (Jammu & Kashmir), Sunil Kumar (Jammu & Kashmir), Yudhvir Singh (Jammu & Kashmir), Arshdeep Singh (Punjab), Arjun Sharma (Services).
Central Zone Squad
Rajat Patidar (Captain) (Madhya Pradesh), Rinku Singh (Vice-Captain) (Uttar Pradesh), Ayush Pandey (Chhattisgarh), Saransh Jain (Madhya Pradesh), Aryan Pandey (Madhya Pradesh), Arshad Khan (Madhya Pradesh), Kunal Singh Rathod (Wicketkeeper) (Rajasthan), Aryan Juyal (Wicketkeeper) (Uttar Pradesh), Zeeshan Ansari (Uttar Pradesh), Kunal Chandela (Uttarakhand), Aman Mokhade (Vidarbha), Yash Rathod (Vidarbha), Harsh Dubey (Vidarbha), Yash Thakur (Vidarbha), Nachiket Bhute (Vidarbha).
South Zone Squad
Tilak Varma (Captain) (Hyderabad), Ricky Bhui (Vice-Captain & Wicketkeeper) (Andhra), SK Rasheed (Andhra), K Sai Teja (Andhra), T Vijay (Andhra), Abhinav Tejrana (Goa), K Himateja (Hyderabad), T Thyagarajan (Hyderabad), R Smaran (Karnataka), Karun Nair (Karnataka), Shreyas Gopal (Karnataka), V Kaverappa (Karnataka), MD Nidheesh (Kerala), N Jagadeesan (Wicketkeeper) (Tamil Nadu), Aman Khan (Pondicherry).
watch……Ajay Devgn Steps Into Anup Soni’s Shoes as Crime Patrol Host
East Zone Squad
Ishan Kishan (Captain & Wicketkeeper) (Jharkhand), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Vice-Captain) (Bihar), Denish Das (Assam), Abhimanyu Easwaran (Bengal), Sudip Kumar Gharami (Bengal), Shahbaz Ahmed (Bengal), Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (Bengal), Mohd Shami (Bengal), Mukesh Kumar (Bengal), Kumar Kushagra (Wicketkeeper) (Jharkhand), Shikhar Mohan (Jharkhand), Anukul Roy (Jharkhand), Virat Singh (Jharkhand), Subhranshu Senapati (Odisha), Abhijit Sarkar (Tripura).
West Zone Squad
Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain) (Maharashtra), Shams Mulani (Vice-Captain) (Mumbai), Atit Sheth (Baroda), Shivalik Sharma (Baroda), Jaymeet Patel (Gujarat), Urvil Patel (Wicketkeeper) (Gujarat), Siddharth Desai (Gujarat), Prithvi Shaw (Maharashtra), Mukesh Choudhary (Maharashtra), Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Musheer Khan (Mumbai), Tushar Deshpande (Mumbai), Tanush Kotian (Mumbai), Harvik Desai (Wicketkeeper) (Saurashtra), Jay Gohil (Saurashtra).
North East Zone Squad
Jonathan Rongsen (Captain) (Nagaland), Bishworjit Singh Konthoujam (Vice-Captain) (Manipur), Techi Neri (Arunachal Pradesh), Priyojit K (Manipur), Ronald Meitei (Manipur), Jotin Singh Pheiroijam (Manipur), Kishan Lyngdoh (Meghalaya), Arpit Subhas (Wicketkeeper) (Meghalaya), Akash Kumar Choudhary (Meghalaya), Joseph Lalthankhuma (Mizoram), Lalrempouia (Mizoram), Imliwati Lemtur (Nagaland), Vino G Zhimomi (Nagaland), Robin Limboo (Sikkim), Ashish Thapa (Wicketkeeper) (Sikkim).
The stage is set for another exciting Duleep Trophy season, with six zones ready to battle for domestic cricket’s prestigious red-ball crown.
