Reports: Duleep Trophy to be played in zonal format going forward

According to the latest developments, the Duleep Trophy is reported to return to its original inter-zonal format from this season onwards. The six teams participating will be North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone, Central Zone, and North-East Zone. The 2025-26 edition of the red-ball domestic tournament will be played in Bengaluru in the month of September later this year.

According to earlier reports by Cricbuzz, a handful of state associations were left unsatisfied by the four-team structure which was implemented for the 2024 edition of the prestigious tournament. For the unversed, the tournament attracted a lot of international stars from the Indian setup in the First-Class tournament which was played between India A, India B, India C, and India D. The main issue revolved around the compromise the national selectors had in terms of domestic talents.

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Venues shortlisted for upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup

As per the same report, it is understood that the 2025 edition of the Women's World Cup will be played across five venues in India. The mega event, which is set to begin in September, is reported to be played in Indore, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mullanpur. The eight-nation tournament is set to begin in late September and end up getting concluded in the first week of November.

An additional venue could be added to the list on the condition of Pakistan Women make it through the World Cup Qualifier to be played at home next month. Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, an agreement was made between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Pakistan Cricket Board to play all of their games in ICC tournaments at neutral venues for the 2024-27 cycle.

Guwahati, apart from hosting its inaugural World Cup game, will also be hosting its maiden Test match when India play the second Test of their two-match Test series against South Africa later in 2025. The series opener will be played in Delhi.