The 63rd edition of India's domestic first-class cricket tournament Duleep Trophy 2026 is going to start from August 23. A total of 6 teams are participating in this prestigious tournament of domestic cricket, which include Central Zone, East Zone, North Zone, North East Zone, South Zone and West Zone. This time many veteran and young players will be seen playing in the tournament, in which everyone's special eyes are on the East Zone team captained by Ishan Kishan and the young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi. At the same time, the command of the Central Zone is in the hands of Rajat Patidar, while Tilak Verma is captaining the South Zone and Ruturaj Gaikwad is handling the captaincy of the West Zone. Why did Central Zone and South Zone get direct semi-final tickets? This question must be coming in the minds of cricket fans that while other teams will have to go through the knockout round, how did the teams of Central Zone and South Zone get direct entry into the semi-finals? Rules and Previous Performance: According to the format of this time of Duleep Trophy, the finalist teams of last year i.e. the previous season are directly given a place in the semi-finals. Defending Champion and Runner-up: In the final match of last season, Central Zone won the title brilliantly by defeating South Zone. On this basis, this time both the Central Zone and South Zone teams have got direct tickets for the semi-finals, due to which they will directly compete in the last-4 without playing the quarterfinals. Complete format and schedule of Duleep Trophy 2026: This time the tournament is being played on Single-Elimination Format, in which a total of 5 matches (including the final) will be played: Quarterfinal matches (23 to 26 August): Quarterfinal 1: East Zone vs North East Zone (BCCI COE Ground 2) Quarterfinal 2: North Zone vs West Zone (BCCI COE Ground 1) Semifinal matches (from 30 August) 2 September): Semi-Final 1: Central Zone vs the winning team of the first quarterfinal (BCCI COE Ground 1) Semi-final 2: South Zone vs the winning team of the second quarterfinal (BCCI COE Ground 2) Grand Final – Final (6 to 10 September): The title match between the winning teams of both the semi-finals will be played at the famous MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
