Deodhar Trophy to take place after four years in Puducherry, Bangalore to host Duleep Trophy

After the conclusion of IPL 2023 and World Test Championship final 2023, the focus will now shift to Indian domestic cricket as two inter-zonal tournaments namely, the Duleep Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy will take place back-to-back. The tournaments will feature six zonal teams taking on each other in a knockout format.

Bangalore will host the Duleep Trophy like last year which is scheduled to take place from June 28. On the other hand, the one-day 50-over Deodhar Trophy competition will be held in Puducherry. The exact dates for the tournament are yet to be announced.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed the state units that the Duleep Trophy will be played from June 28 to July 16 among the six zones: North, South, West, East, Central, and North East. Previous year's finalists South and West will get direct entry to the semifinals, while the remaining four teams will compete in two quarterfinal matches. The winners of the quarterfinals will compete with South and West in the semi-finals, followed by the final.

The six participating zones have been advised to finalize their squad selections by June 15 by Abey Kuruvilla, BCCI GM of Game Development. They’ve been also asked to appoint a zonal selection committee and nominate a zonal convenor, who will oversee the proceedings and report to the Board.

Furthermore, the zonal convenors have also been asked to nominate support staff, including a coach, physiotherapist, trainer, performance analyst, masseur, and manager.

"All Zonal Convenors are requested to conduct their respective selection committee meetings and submit the squad, including players and support staff, as per the above guidelines on or before Thursday," Abey Kuruvilla was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Deodhar Trophy to take place from July 24

The West Zone selection committee meeting with Mumbai's Raju Kulkarni, a former India Test player, serving as the convenor, will be held in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

According to sources, the one-day Deodhar Trophy championship, which was last held in 2019, will begin next month in Puducherry, tentatively scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 3.