What is Duleep Trophy? why are top Indian players participating in it?

Domestic matches conducted by BCCI provides a platform to all the players in the circuit to showcase their talent. The opportunities provided to them here is a litmus test. It helps in bringing the best lot of players forward, basically the cream of domestic circuit. 

One such domestic tournament conducted almost every year by the BCCI is Duleep Trophy. Performing here is very crucial as talent doesn’t get unnoticed here. Doing well here can earn one an India call as well. 

The first edition of Duleep Trophy was conducted in 1961-62 and since then it is being held almost every year in some or the other form. The tournament is named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji and comprises 6 teams representing different zones- south, east, north, south, central,north east. The number of teams keep changing though. It is conducted in round robin format, earlier matches were held on knockout basis though. 

Usually the players are selected as per their zones, but in 2016-17, zonal teams were replaced by India blue, green, red. Presently, in the 2024 season, there are four teams- A, B, C, D. 

How are players selected

Players are selected on the basis of their performance in inter state matches. Those who do well either with bat or ball are given a chance in Duleep Trophy and hence the best players from all the zones get to compete against each other. Some top level of cricket is witnessed in these matches as best players from the length and breadth of the country are picked. 

Interestingly, women cricketers too get to play at zone level. But their tournament is called Challenger Trophy and not Duleep Trophy.  

Statistics in Duleep Trophy

Last champion: South zone 

Most successful: West zone - 19 times champion 

Most runs: Wasim Jaffer(2545)

Most wickets: Narendra Hirwani (126)

Highest score: Raman Lamba 320 vs West zone in 1987-88 season

Most hundreds: Anshuman Gaekwad (9)

Highest partnership: VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid (409 vs South Zone)

Highest score : North zone (868 vs West Zone)

Lowest score: North Zone (48 vs South zone) and East Zone (48 vs South Zone)

Most matches: Mohinder Amarnath (31 for North zone)

Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper: Parthiv Patel (88)

Division of zones

Duleep Trophy 2024

The 2024 edition of Duleep Trophy was organized particularly to increase the engagement in red ball cricket. A lot of international players avoid participating in domestic matches. To combat that, and to improve the performance in test cricket, this year’s duleep trophy squads were prepared with the aim to include international players majorly. 

First round of the tournament is finished and those who are picked in the national squad are released. For round two, a fresh bunch of players have received the call. 

In round one, India C won against India D by four wickets and India B won against India A by 76 runs. 

Teams for Round 2 of Duleep Trophy 2024

India A: Mayank Aggarwal(c), Riyan Parag, SK Rasheed, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Akshay Wadkar, Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Kumar Kusharga, Shaswat Rawat, Aaqib Khan. Pratham Singh

India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran(c), Rinku Singh, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, R. Saikishore, Musheer Khan, Nitish Reddy, Suyash Prabhudesai, Rahul Chahar, N. Jagadeesan, Himanshu Mantri, Mohit Avasthi 

India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Sai Sudarsan, Rajat Patidar, Abhishek Porel, B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal, Sandeep Warrier, Gaurav Yadav 

India D: Shreyas Iyer(c), Atharva Taide, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Nishant Sindhu, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Vidwath Kaverappa, KS Bharat, Saurabh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dubey