As expected, it took North Zone just one session to retain their Duleep Trophy title, and in the process win the competition for a record 17th time.
The latest edition of the grand opera that is Indian domestic season will begin in Bengaluru on Wednesday with the Duleep Trophy.
The Zimbabwe side would comprise some Test players along with a bunch of promising cricketers.
The uber-talented Sanju Samson completed his 11th first-class hundred before Arshdeep Singh showed his wares with the semi-new ball as India D held sway over India B on the second day of their final Duleep Trophy round robin league match in Anantapur on Friday.
Jacob Martin and Zaheer Khan steered West Zone to a five-wicket win over East Zone in the final.
Mayank Agarwal, vice-captain of South, Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw have come to this match riding on heaps of runs that they have made in the previous Ranji season.
A 104-run first innings lead against Plate 'C' gave them the title.
The BCCI has allowed the Tamil Nadu players participating in the ongoing Duleep Trophy to play for their respective franchises in the inaugural edition of TN Premier T20 League (TNPL). The players are allowed to join their TNPL squads in case they are not picked in the playing XI and can also travel back during the non-match days in the Duleep Trophy taking place in Greater Noida.
In June, Gupta was handed a retrospective eight-month suspension for an "inadvertent" doping violation. The 27-year-old's suspension started from January 15 and will end on September 14.
Madhya Pradesh off-spinner Saransh Jain, 33, has been named in India's 15-member squad for the upcoming two-Test series in Sri Lanka, replacing the injured Washington Sundar, marking a surprise call-up after impressive all-round performances for India A.
The victory took India A to the top of the points table with a total of 12 points from three matches, crowing them as the eventual winners.
West Zone were almost assured of a berth in the Duleep Trophy finals after they dismissed visitors North Zone for 294 and took a huge 475 run first innings lead on day three of the Duleep Trophy semi-final match at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket ground in Rajkot on Thursday.
Azharuddeen was the vice-captain of the side, and now that role has been handed to Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan.
The South Zone team will face the West Zone in the Duleep Trophy match at Vadodara from October 20 to 23.
Dhruv Shorey steered North Zone's charge against North East Zone with a composed century on the first day of the four-day Duleep Trophy quarter-final.
The BCCI working committe cleared their participation as the sixth team in the tournament.
Manish Pandey justified his reputation of being the most sought after uncapped Indian player as he smashed his way to an unbeaten 203 not out as South Zone notched up 416 for eight against Central Zone on the first day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final being played at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal.
Manav Suthar grabbed seven wickets to engineer India D's batting collapse and fashion a four-wicket win for India C in the Duleep Trophy in Anantapur on Saturday.
It was learnt that once Kishan conveyed his decision, Tripura selector Jayanta Dey wanted Wriddhiman Saha and he was also contacted.
Captain Shreyas Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal struck half-centuries to help India D stretch their lead against India C on the second day of their Duleep Trophy match.
The BCCI on Monday invited bids for the title sponsorship rights for its domestic and international home events, with the current agreement with IDFC FIRST Bank nearing the end of its tenure.
Chasing a daunting 678 for victory, South Zone squandered the fine start given by their openers Robin Uthappa (94) and M Vijay (63) to end the fourth and penultimate day of the Duleep Trophy final against West Zone at a precarious 232 for four in Chennai on Sunday. Still 446 runs adrift of an unlikely win, the hosts had captain and first innings centurion Subramaniam Badrinath (35 not out) and Dinesh Karthik (27 not out) at the crease at stumps.
The Indian captain is uncertain for the Duleep Trophy match between East Zone and Central Zone on February 15 due to a side strain.
The match coincides with the three-day camp for the Indian team to prepare for the seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The BCCI's Tours and Programmes and Fixtures Committee felt an NCA team lacks the experience to play at the inter-zonal tournament.
Earlier, India B were all out for 282 in their first innings in reply to D's first essay of 349.
The left arm seamer has been advised by team physio John Gloster rest his side strain.
The pace trio of Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini did the damage with the ball as India B outclassed India A by 76 runs in the Duleep Trophy.
Play was called off at 2 pm IST.
The Central Zone vs Bangladesh match scheduled to be held in Jaipur from March 1, would now be held at the Railways ground in Delhi.
The Indian captain who is nursing a side strain has been advised rest by doctors.
Shreyas Iyer, aiming to make a comeback to India's Test squad, fell for a second successive duck in the ongoing tournament.
With unrelenting bad weather playing spoilsport, North Zone and South Zone were declared joint winners of the Duleep Trophy after the fifth day's play of the final was called off without a ball being bowled in Kochi, on Monday.
'The captain had a lot of faith in me, and I fulfilled my role very well.'
The absence of big names from both the teams notwithstanding, West Zone will enjoy a slight edge over North in the four-day quarter-final of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament, in Chennai, on Saturday.
Washington Sundar spun a web around the India Blue batsmen for his successive five-wicket haul of the match as India Red emerged champions of the Duleep Trophy with a 163-run victory, in Lucknow, on Thursday.
The BCCI has announced significant changes to domestic cricket playing conditions for the 2026-27 season, including stricter penalties for deliberate front-foot no-balls, new rules for day's closure, and restrictions on declarations.
