Duleep Trophy Final Preview | South Zone’s batting might against Central Zone’s bowling mastery in summit clash

‌South Zone will lock horns with Central Zone in the summit clash of the Duleep Trophy 2025 season, set to start at the Centre of Excellence Ground in Bengaluru from Thursday, September 11. The final of the multi-day zonal-wise competition, which is also the curtain-raiser of the current domestic season, will be played over five days.

South Zone featured directly in the semi-final of the six-team competition this year after winning the last edition of the regional competition in 2023. South beat North Zone in the last-four at the same venue on Sunday, courtesy of their 175-run first innings lead. Meanwhile, Central had to play an additional match, beating North East Zone and West Zone, on first innings leads, on their way to the title clash.

Wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan starred with the bat, scoring 197 in the first innings and remaining unbeaten on 52 in the second. He was well-supported by Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, and Tanay Thyagarajan, who all scored half-centuries in South’s marathon first innings batting display. The pace duo of MD Nidheesh and Gurjapneet Singh picked up seven wickets amongst them in the only innings they bowled.

However, South’s batting might will be challenged by Central’s excellent bowling lineup, which boasts of a three-pronged pace attack in Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, and Yash Thakur. The spin department also looks impressive with Harsh Dubey, the left-arm spinner who finished as the highest wicket-taker in last year’s Ranji Trophy, being joined by off-spinner Saransh Jain. The spin duo are at the top of the bowling charts in the Duleep Trophy this year with 10 and eight wickets, respectively.

On the batting front too, Central have a heavy presence in the top-five with Danish Malewar placed second with 294 runs, at an average of 98.00, with a century and a fifty each in three innings. The Madhya Pradesh duo of skipper Rajat Patidar and Shubham Sharma are third and fourth on the list with 268 and 252 runs, respectively.

Form Guide

SZ Form: WLWWW

CZ Form: LWDWW

SZ vs CZ head-to-head in Duleep Trophy

South Zone and Central Zone have met each other in the Duleep Trophy on five occasions since 2010, with South being victorious on three occasions and Central winning just once. One match ended in a draw, with Central being announced victor based on their first innings lead.  

SZ 3 - 1 CZ (since 2010)

Pitch and Conditions

The Centre of Excellence Ground is expected to offer yet another flat batting deck for the summit clash, with the spinners having a say in the second half of the match. A total of 2285 runs have been made in two matches at this venue with an average of 381 runs across six innings. The captains will not have any hesitation after winning the toss, with both matches being won by teams batting first.

The weather is expected to be warm throughout the game with temperatures ranging around the 27-degree mark. However, afternoon showers have been predicted on all days except for the first, with chances of rain around 55% from days two to five.  

Team News

Both South and Central are expected to field an unchanged side after winning their semifinal ties against North Zone and West Zone, respectively.

South Zone Expected XI

Tanmay Agarwal, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Mohammed Azharuddeen (c), Ricky Bhui, Salman Nizar, Tanay Thyagarajan, Gurjapneet Singh, Vasuki Koushik, MD Nidheesh.

Central Zone Expected XI

Aayush Pandey, Danish Malewar, Shubham Sharma, Rajat Patidar (c), Yash Rathod, Upendra Yadav (wk), Harsh Dubey, Saransh Jain, Deepak Chahar, Yash Thakur, Khaleel Ahmed.

Broadcasting Platforms 

The Duleep Trophy final between South Zone and Central Zone will be digitally streamed on the Jio Hotstar app and website in India from 9:30 AM IST on Thursday. The live telecast of the match will also be available on the Sports 18 Network.