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The new season of Indian domestic cricket is starting from Sunday (23 August). Duleep Trophy 2026 will start from this day. Young sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi is also going to enter this prestigious first class tournament. Vaibhav, who has made a splash in T20 cricket, will get a chance to improve his record in first class cricket. He will play for East Zone in the quarter-finals of the Duleep Trophy. East Zone will face North-East Zone.

15 year old Vaibhav has scored only 207 runs for Bihar in 12 innings of 8 first class matches at an average of over 17. His best score during this period is 93 runs. Vaibhav is an inexperienced player in red ball cricket. They will get a chance to score some runs and gain confidence against the North-East team, which is considered to be the weakest in the Duleep Trophy.

Who is in the East Zone team?

The East Zone team has experienced players like captain Ishan Kishan, fast bowler Mohammed Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Kumar Kushagra, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar, but like always, Suryavanshi will attract everyone's attention. The selection committee of East Zone has appointed him as vice-captain.

What is the importance of Duleep Trophy?

Duleep Trophy, which was once an important tournament for players aspiring for a place in the Indian team, has now become just another tournament in the BCCI calendar, as most of the players are not in the race for a place in the Test team.

Like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy has also become a means to make a place in the India-A team. Players who perform well in this can be in contention for two four-day 'Test' matches to be held against Australia-A team in Puducherry in late September and early October.

Ayush Pandey and Aman Mokhade, who played in the 'A' series in Sri Lanka, will play directly in the semi-finals for Central Zone. By continuing his good performance, he will try to make a place in the team for the series against Australia A.

North Zone team full of J&K players

Delhi has dominated the history of North Zone. Whereas the representation of Jammu and Kashmir has always been nominal but the victory of Ranji Trophy 2025-2026 has changed the whole story. Kanhaiya Wadhawan has become the first player from Jammu and Kashmir to get the opportunity to captain the senior zonal team. Their state has the highest representation in this team. They will face a strong opponent in the form of West Zone led by Ruturaj Gaikwad.

West Zone will miss Sarfaraz Khan, who is on tour to Sri Lanka with the national team. With players like Kamran Iqbal, who scored a double century in the Ranji final, Ayush Doja, one of the top scorers, Yash Dhull and Ayush Badoni in the North Zone team, the match is likely to be exciting. Apart from Gaikwad, West Zone has players like Shardul Thakur, Mumbai spin pair Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani.