Countries India Format First-class cricket Last tournament 2014–15 | Administrator BCCI First tournament 1961–62 Tournament format Knock out | |
The Duleep Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India between teams representing geographical zones of India. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as "Duleep"). Central Zone are the current champions.
Contents
History
The competition was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the 1961–62 season. The inaugural tournament was won by West Zone who defeated South Zone in the final by 10 wickets. In the 1962–63 season four of the five teams (all except Central Zone) had their bowling attacks strengthened by a West Indies Test cricketer.
North Zone and West Zone have been the most successful teams with 18 wins each, though North's total includes one shared trophy and West's three.
Format
Five Indian zonal teams regularly take part in the Duleep Trophy – North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone.
The original format was that the five teams played each other on a knock-out basis. From the 1993–94 season, the competition converted to a league format.
For the 2002–03 season, the zonal teams were replaced by 5 new teams – Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B. These teams were constructed from the new Elite Group and Plate Group divisions which had been introduced into the Ranji Trophy that season. However, this format lasted for only one season as it was felt that the new teams lacked a sense of identity.
From the 2003–04 season until 2008, the five original zonal teams competed along with a sixth guest team which was a touring foreign team. The first guest team was England A in 2003–04.
After 2008 the format was replaced by the original 5-team knockout tournament until the 2014-15 season. The Duleep Trophy was not held in 2014-15 but returned to the calendar in 2016-17 with a new format. Three teams chosen by the BCCI selectors took part, designated India Blue, India Green and India Red. The teams played a round-robin tournament was played with the top two advancing to the final, which was won by India Blue. The competition was held at the start of the season and all games were staged as day-night games with a pink ball used.
Composition of teams
Each zonal team is a composite team of cricketers who play for the Ranji Trophy state/city teams situated in that region of India. The teams which compose each zone are as follows:
Guest teams
From the 2003–04 to the 2007-08 season, a foreign guest team competed as a sixth team in the Duleep Trophy.