Defending champions Central Zone, captained by Rajat Patidar with Rinku Singh as vice-captain, face East Zone in the first semifinal in Bengaluru
Tilak Varma leads South Zone against North Zone in the second semifinal, featuring experienced players like Ricky Bhui and Karun Nair
North Zone advanced to the semifinals after defeating West Zone by 52 runs, powered by left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq's nine-wicket haul
Duleep Trophy 2026 Semi-Final LIVE Streaming: Preview, When And Where To Watch
Defending champions Central Zone, led by Rajat Patidar, will clash with Ishan Kishan's East Zone, while Tilak Varma's South Zone face North Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinals starting in Bengaluru on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Central and South enter directly, while East and North seek to leverage match fitness gained from quarterfinal victories
Summary
The Duleep Trophy semifinals commence here on Sunday, August 30, 2026. Defending champions Central Zone clash with East Zone, while last year's runners-up South Zone face North Zone.
Central and South received direct semifinal entries. They step onto the field without any prior tournament game time this season.
Meanwhile, East and North earned their spots after securing outright victories in the quarterfinals. They bring critical match fitness into the knockout stage.
Central Face Confident East
Captain Rajat Patidar leads Central Zone again. Rinku Singh joins him as vice-captain. The squad keeps a solid core from their title-winning campaign last season.
Their bowling attack remains robust. Spinners Saransh Jain and Harsh Dubey provide quality slow-bowling options. Yash Thakur and Zeeshan Ansari bring pace and first-class pedigree to the lineup.
East Zone carry massive momentum. They routed North East Zone by an innings and 210 runs in the quarterfinals. Captain Ishan Kishan and Abhimanyu Easwaran anchor the batting alongside teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Quarterfinal centurions Sudip Gharami and Shahbaz Ahmed, who also contributed four wickets, add immense depth.
East's bowlers dominated the quarterfinals. Anukul Roy took five wickets in the second innings, while Abhijit Sarkar claimed six wickets overall to seal the victory.
South Battle Resolute North
Tilak Varma captains South Zone this year. He leads an experienced batting unit featuring Ricky Bhui, Narayan Jagadeesan and Karun Nair. Spinners Shreyas Gopal and Tanay Thyagarajan manage the spin department, while Vidwath Kaverappa provides the pace option.
North Zone advanced by defeating West Zone by 52 runs. Their selection policy sparked debate. Management picked Yash Dhull over prolific Ranji Trophy scorer Sanat Sangwan. Dhull struggled against West's pace attack, scoring nine and a duck, while Sangwan watched from the sidelines.
Mushtaq delivered the decisive blow. The slow left-armer dismantled West's batting lineup with match figures of 9/99. His relentless spell broke the opposition's resistance and sealed North's semifinal spot.
The team relies heavily on vice-captain Ayush Badoni, who struck twin fifties against West. Abdul Samad provides late-order power, while Anshul Kamboj provides valuable runs and wickets.
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North could also rejig their pace attack, with Sunil Kumar likely to make way for India pacer Gurnoor Brar. Brar impressed for India A against Sri Lanka A, claiming 10 wickets in the unofficial second Test in Galle, before delivering encouraging performances against England in the ODIs.
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