India A are the Duleep Trophy season 2024-25 Champion

The Indian A team, led by Mayank Agarwal, claimed the 2024-25 Season Duleep Trophy by beating India C in their last round-robin match. The India A team finished the tournament with 12 points from their three matches to top the points table and was declared the winner of the 61st edition of the prestigious Duleep Trophy. 

The Duleep Trophy is a four-day premier domestic first-class match organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). 

Often, players are selected for the Indian men’s cricket team for Test matches based on their performance in the Duleep Trophy. 

Format of the 61st edition of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25

• The Duleep Trophy was traditionally played in a Zonal format, with teams divided into five or six geographical regions. 
• This year, there were four teams: India A, India B, India C, and India D. Mayank Agarwal captained the India A team. Ruturaj Gaikwad led the India C side, Abhimanyu Easwaran led the India B side, and Shreyas Iyer led the India D side. 
• During the tournament, only one match was played at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, and the rest were held in Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh.
• This year’s Duleep Trophy was played in a round-robin format, with each team playing against the other team once. 
• Inda A topped the points chart with 12 points, followed by India C with 9 points, India B with 6 points and India D with 6 points.
• Ricky Bhui of India D was the top run-scorer with 359 runs. Anshul Kamboj of India C was the highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets.

About Duleep Trophy 

• BCCI started the Duleep trophy in honour of Duleep Singh Ji in the 1961-62 cricket season. Duleep Singh Ji, who belonged to the royal family of Nawanagar, Gujarat, played international cricket for England.
• Initially, the teams were divided into the East, West, North, South, and Central Zones. Each Zonal team consisted of a Ranji Trophy player from that zone.
• Later in the 2022-23 season, a new Zone North-East was added.
• The BCCI has been consistently changing the format and composition of the Duleep Trophy.
• West Zone has been the most successful side in the Duleep Trophy, having won it 19 times.