Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing XI for All Zonal Teams

Explore the best predicted playing XI for all six zonal teams in the Duleep Trophy 2025. From Shubman Gill to Ishan Kishan, see which stars are likely to feature in India’s premier red-ball domestic tournament starting August 28.

After a long and blockbuster India vs England Test series, the Indian team is taking much-deserved rest. It was an exhausting Test series with all 5 Tests concluding on the 5th day. With such gruelling days of cricket, it is but obvious that cricketers need rest. But as cricket fans, the month of August was expected to be dry, with Cricketing action resuming next month with the Asia Cup. But not anymore as most of the Indian team stars will now be featuring in the premier first-class domestic tournament of India Duleep Trophy.

Yes, the senior Indian team players will be participating in the Duleep Trophy, which is one of the most prominent and fascinating first-class tournaments in India. The Duleep Trophy has a varied history in terms of team composition, but as per the latest 2025 edition, six teams will participate in the tournament, namely West Zone, South Zone, North Zone, Central Zone, North-East Zone, and East Zone.

What’s fascinating is that the tournament will feature some of the most prominent Indian cricketers. While Team India’s current Test Captain, Shubman Gill, shall be leading the North Zone, Dhruv Jurel shall be leading the Central Zone, Tilak Varma will be leading the South Zone, Shardul Thakur will be leading the West Zone, and Ishan Kishan shall be leading the East Zone. Aside from these players, the tournament shall feature many star cricketers like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, etc.

Duleep Trophy 2025 Format Explained

The tournament shall be played in a Knockout format with a total of 5 knockout matches. The South Zone and West Zone are already qualified for the semi-finals. The North Zone will face the East Zone, and the Central Zone will play the North-east Zone in a quarter-final match. The winner of the North vs East Zone match will play the South Zone in the semi-final. Whereas the winner of the Central vs North-east Zone match will play the West Zone in the semi-final. The matches begin on August 28, and will conclude on September 15.

After BCCI’s clear mandate on young players participating in Domestic tournaments when they have time, the Duleep Trophy becomes an extremely important and exciting tournament to watch. So, having seen the format, and the potential opportunity to witness some of our favourite cricketers, let’s analyse the current squad for each team, and find out the best predicted playing 11 for each zonal team for Duleep Trophy – a solid warm-up practice before Asia Cup 2025. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing XI for West Zone

1. Aarya Desai
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal
3. Ruturaj Gaikwad
4. Shreyas Iyer
5. Sarfaraz Khan
6. Harvik Desai  (wk)
7. Tanush Kotian
8. Shams Mulani
9. Shardul Thakur (c)
10. Tushar Deshpande
11. Arzan Nagwaswalla

Starting with the West Zone, the playing 11 looks pretty strong for the West Zone with top players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, and Tushar Deshpande featuring in it. The team has solid batting till 8 with two all-rounders, Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani, more than capable of batting. The team shall feature 3 pacers with Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, and Arzan Nagwaswalla leading the attack. It’s a strong playing 11, and Shams and Tanush are potential spin threats for the team. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing XI for North Zone

1. Aniket Kumar
2. Shubham Khajuriya
3. Yash Dhull
4. Shubman Gill (c)
5. Ayush Badoni
6. Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk)
7. Nishant Sindhu
8. Mayank Dagar
9. Arshdeep Singh
10. Harshit Rana
11. Anshul Kamboj

Coming to the North Zone, the team shall be led by Team India’s Test Captain, Shubman Gill. The team doesn’t boast a lot of superstars in the batting department, but the names like Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Nishant Sindhu, and Mayank Dagar are known for their presence in the Indian Premier League. However, the North Zone has a solid pace bowling attack with three senior Indian team bowlers being there. All three pacers, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Anshul Kamboj, will have a great opportunity to impress their Test team Captain, Shubman Gill. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing 11 for Central Zone

1. Danish Malewar
2. Aryan Juyal
3. Shubham Sharma
4. Rajat Patidar
5. Yash Rathod
6. Dhruv Jurel (c&wk)
7. Manav Suthar
8. Harsh Dubey
9. Deepak Chahar
10. Kuldeep Yadav
11. Khaleel Ahmed

Talking about the Central Zone, the team shall be led by Dhruv Jurel, who is slowly and steadily making a name for himself in the Cricketing world. Dhruv is known for his calm demeanour, and he idolises MS Dhoni a lot. With him at the helm, the Central team shall also feature quality players like Rajat Patidar, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Khaleel Ahmed. It’s a solid bowling lineup, and if Central Zone can see some solid batting performances, they can sail through. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing XI for South Zone

1. Devdutt Padikkal
2. Tanmay Agarwaal
3. Ricky Bhui
4. Tilak Varma (c)
5. Mohd. Azaruddeen
6. N Jagadeesan (wk)
7. Salman Nizar
8. Tripurana Vijay
9. Sai Kishore
10. Gurjapneet Singh
11. Vyshak Vijaykumar

Coming to the South Zone, the team will see young Tilak Varma at the helm. Tilak has been playing a lot of county cricket these days, and is making a name for himself in the Red-ball format. Tilak shall lead a quality side that shall feature players like Devdutt Padikkal, N Jagadeesan, Ricky Bhui, Sai Kishore, and Vyshak Vijaykumar. Surely, the South Zone doesn’t boast well-known players, but they carry the tag of an underdog, and can surprise everyone with their performance. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing 11 for East Zone

1. A’manyu Easwaran
2. Virat Singh
3. Sridam Paul
4. Riyan Parag
5. Kumar Khushagra
6. Ishan Kishan (c&wk)
7. Utkarsh Singh
8. Manishi
9. Akash Deep
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Mukesh Kumar

Finally, talking about the East Zone, the team will see Ishan Kishan at the helm. The team is no underdog by any means as it features some of the quality players already in contention of the Indian team. Right from Abhimanyu Waswaran to Riyan Parag, Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami, and Mukesh Kumar, it’s a quality side that can rattle any opposition. It won’t be a surprise to see them give tough fight to other teams, and have a crack at the trophy. 

Duleep Trophy 2025 Best Predicted Playing XI for North-East Zone

Squad Yet to be announced.

So, that’s about the best predicted playing XI for all 6 zonal teams for Duleep Trophy 2025. Which team looks the strongest on paper? Please share your thoughts at business@cricalytics.com

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