The fringe and aspiring bunch will look to own the elevated Duleep Trophy stage as the red-ball competition returns to its traditional zonal format and marks the start of India's domestic cricket season.
South leads by a mere 64 runs, and Central should be able to surmount the target without much fuss on the fifth day on Monday.
Jammu and Kashmir's Shubham Khajuria struck a fighting, unbeaten century to rescue North Zone, but South Zone remained favourites to progress to the Duleep Trophy final, in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Spinners Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya exploited the indecisiveness of South Zone batters to share nine wickets between them to hand Central Zone advantage on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Rajat Patidar completely overshadowed senior team-mate Virat Kohli with a blistering display of power hitting.
Indian cricketers, including Test skipper Shubman Gill and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, have cleared the pre-season fitness test which was conducted at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Rajat Patidar's astute captaincy has been apparent throughout this season, be it bowling changes or field placements, he has been spot on. Unlike other franchises where captaining big egos has not sat well with certain players, Patidar has commanded the respect of his senior India as well as international team-mates.
Central Zone advanced to the Duleep Trophy final by virtue of their first innings lead in the drawn match against West Zone.
Under pressure, the BCCI announced that the final to be played from September 11-15 will be broadcast live.
Rajat Patidar understands what it would mean for the team to win the coveted Indian Premier League title for one of country's bonafide cricket legends.
'It is really special for me, for Virat Kohli, and all the fans.'
Dhruv Jurel, who impressed during India's series-levelling tour of England, was on Thursday named captain of Central Zone for the season-opening Duleep Trophy, set to begin on August 28 in Bengaluru.
RCB are chasing a top-two finish for the first time since 2016 as they head into the final stages of the league phase.
Rajat Patidar becomes India's 310th Test player.
A former police official who was part of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that probed the 2008 Malegaon blast case claimed on Thursday that he had been asked to apprehend RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Rajat Patidar struck a quickfire half-century to set up Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.
Patidar looked assured in his 72-ball 32 and one of his three boundaries came via a reverse sweep.
The celebration offered the squad chance to unwind and laugh together ahead of the big IPL 2025 final on June 3.
'It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest.''
IPL side Royal Challengers Bengaluru's under-fire pacer Yash Dayal has been accused of raping a minor in an FIR registered against him by Jaipur Police.
PBKS sign Kiwi pacer Jamieson for injured Ferguson; RCB skipper Patidar bats at nets
I'm relentlessly trying to learn from Kohli's batting: Rajat Patidar
'We are not a team that looks at venue, we look to play positive and good cricket'
On the back of Ishan Kishan's scintillating 48-ball 94, SRH put on a massive 231 for 6 in their 20 overs against Royals Challengers Bengaluru in Lucknow on Thursday.
'We were lacking in assessing the conditions and the situation'
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), already qualified for the playoffs, will aim to secure a top-two league stage finish when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash in Lucknow.
RCB's success so far in IPL 2025 hasn't just rested on Kohli and Hazlewood.
England Lions continued to dominate India A despite a rollicking unbeaten hundred from Rajat Patidar on the second day of their first unofficial Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The unexpected 10-day break has left both the RCB and the KKR with different goals to achieve and common challenges to hurdle over.
RCB squandered a golden opportunity to seal a top-two finish on the IPL points table.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's bid for a maiden home victory this IPL season will depend on their batters' ability to handle the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Glenn Maxwell when they face the Punjab Kings on Friday.
Rajat Patidar starred for RCB with a quickfire half-century, while Phil Salt and Tim David provided the fireworks.
Indian superstar Virat Kohli has backed newly-appointed Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar to lead the side for a long time.
Will Kohli ends RCB's long wait for a title? Or will Shreyas produce another match winning knock for Punjab Kings in the final?
The victory brought overwhelming joy and relief
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have very little time to pick up the pieces after a debilitating loss as they eye a much-improved display from their batting unit in a return Indian Premier League match against in-form Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, Punjab, on Sunday.
We have lost battle but not war: Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer
'DC v RCB: Dressing room Chat Part 2. Jitesh appreciates cameos from Bethell and David, and has a special message for Rajat in the end!'
Sarfaraz Khan missed out on a hundred by just four runs as India A and England Lions played out a draw.
Hardik Pandya walked out with the scoreboard reading 99 for 4, and a daunting 222 to chase. The Wankhede was subdued, the Mumbai Indians innings gasping after SKY's stuttering knock. What followed was a spell of breathtaking power-hitting that nearly flipped the game -- and left the crowd in awe.
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