Page 3 - Domestic Cricket

Rahane urges BCCI to revamp selector process, Pujara in partial agreement

India batter Ajinkya Rahane has proposed radical changes in the appointment of selectors, particularly at the domestic level, saying only recently retired first-class players should be entrusted with picking teams as they are more likely to keep pace with changing nature of the game. Currently, any cricketer with 10-match first-class experience can apply for being a state selector and should have retired at least five years ago. Beyond the set parameters, Rahane said it's important that selectors' mindset and approach match the current pace of cricket. "Players should not be scared of selectors. I want to talk about selectors, especially in domestic cricket. We should have selectors who have retired recently from playing top-flight cricket, those who have retired five-six years, seven-eight years ago," Rahane said during an interaction with one-time teammate Cheteshwar Pujara on the former's Youtube channel. "Because the way cricket is evolving, I think it's very important that the

RCB skipper Rajat Patidar named Madhya Pradesh's domestic team captain

The Indore-born batter, apart from guiding RCB to their long-awaited IPL title earlier this year, was also instrumental in Central Zone's Duleep Trophy triumph

Pant poised for Ranji Trophy Round 2 comeback after 3-month injury absence

Pant will undergo a comprehensive fitness evaluation at the National Cricket Academy's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru

Bowlers shine as Vidarbha thrash Rest of India to secure Irani Cup 2025

Vidarbha has played three Irani Cups as of 2025 and has won all three. Their previous victories came in 2018 and 2019

Sourav Ganguly promises cricket's betterment in new stint as CAB chief

The Cricket Association of Bengal conducted its 94th Annual General Meeting on Monday and declared Sourav Ganguly as the new President of CAB

Central Zone advance to Duleep Trophy final despite Jaiswal's valiant 50

Yashasvi Jaiswal's sparkling fifty remained a mere personal landmark as Central Zone advanced to the Duleep Trophy final by virtue of their first innings lead in the drawn match against West Zone here on Sunday. Central Zone will now face South Zone in the final which is scheduled from September 11. Jaiswal (64) peppered the boundary lines often in his 70-ball innings that helped West reach 216 for eight in their second innings, but the 162-run innings lead that they conceded earlier sealed their fate. Central, overnight 556 for eight, were bowled out for 600 but not before Saransh Jain (63 not out) compiled a well-deserved fifty. West skipper Shadul Thakur (6) was dismissed at the stroke of tea, with Tanush Kotian (40) batting at the other end, and the both teams agreed to shake hands at that point, signalling a draw. While not seeing his side in the title clash might come as a disappointment for Jaiswal, he would be happy to spend some good time in the middle for the first time

South Zone seal spot in Duleep Trophy 2025 final after draw with North Zone

N Jagadeesan struck an unbeaten 52 to extend South Zone's dominance as they advanced to the final of the Duleep Trophy after taking a 175-run first-innings lead against North Zone here on Sunday. South Zone will take on Central Zone in the summit clash of the tournament here from September 11. South Zone reached 95 for one when the game was called off with Jagadeesan, who had struck a brilliant 197 in the first innings, reaching 52 not out off 69 balls with six fours to carry on with his red-hot form. At the other end was Devdutt Padikkal on 16 not out. North Zone, under pressure after their opponents piled up 536 in the first innings, had resumed the play on Sunday at 278 for five with 258 runs in arrears. Shubham Khajuria, who struck a gritty century on the third day of the contest to reach 128, failed to add to his overnight score as he was cleaned up by Vasuki Koushik for the first wicket on the final day's second over. Khajuria's innings ended on 128 off 252 balls with 20 fo

South Zone to be led by Azharuddeen in Duleep Trophy semifinal clash

Kerala batter Mohammed Azharuddeen on Sunday replaced Tilak Varma as the South Zone captain for the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone, starting at the BCCI Centre of Excellence on September 4. Tilak Varma, who was originally named the South skipper, will not be playing the Duleep Trophy after he was named in the India squad for the upcoming Asia Cup. Azharuddeen was the vice-captain of the side, and now that role has been handed to Tamil Nadu's N Jagadeesan. Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore too will not be playing in the semifinal for South Zone as he is still recuperating from a hand injury that forced him to skip the recent Buchi Babu Trophy. Ankit Sharma of Puducherry and Shaikh Rasheed of Andhra have been added to the South squad for the Duleep Trophy last four match. Both the players were already named in the standbys. Ankit is a left-arm spinner who has taken 168 wickets from 68 First-Class matches, while Rasheed is a 20-year-old top-order batter who has m

Duleep Trophy 2025 Q/F: Batters help North, Central Zone dominate Day 1

Danish Malewar's unbeaten 198 was the biggest highlight of Day 1 action in the quarterfinals of the Duleep Trophy 2025

Cricket fans slam BCCI for not live-streaming Duleep Trophy 2025 matches

Duleep Trophy blackout has left followers frustrated, especially as several international players are in action, including Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana.

Duleep Trophy 2025 live streaming: Where to watch domestic cricket games?

Star Sports networks is not broadcasting the Duleep Trophy matches live. Previously, JioHotstar used to live stream India's domestic matches, but not this time

Duleep Trophy 2025 preview: Squads, schedule and streaming details

Duleep Trophy 2025 returns to zonal format from Aug 28-Sep 15. Check squads, full match list, streaming details and players to watch including Shami, Iyer, Jaiswal.

Domestic Leagues to European Cricket: Real-Money Gaming ban sparks ripples

Dream11 exit after India's gaming ban leaves state leagues, IPL, broadcasters and European cricket facing major financial losses and sponsorship gaps

Sarfaraz Khan's counter-attacking ton rescues Mumbai in Buchi Babu Clash

Sarfaraz Khan's blazing 111 off 112 balls rescued Mumbai from 84/4 against Haryana in the Buchi Babu Invitational. Mumbai closed at 346/9.

Indian cricketers can't skip domestic games: BCCI's 'non-negotiable' order

Cricket board sends letter after South Zone excludes some leading names from Duleep Trophy

Rahane resigns Mumbai captaincy just before new Ranji Trophy 2025 campaign

Veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday stepped down from his position as Mumbai captain ahead of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, saying it is the right time to groom a new leader. The 37-year-old, who has amassed 14000 runs in 201 first-class matches, however, will continue to play as a batter in the team. The Ranji season begins on October 15 and Mumbai will be up against Jammu and Kashmir in their opening game. "Captaining and winning the championships with the Mumbai team has been an absolute honour," Rahane wrote on his 'X' account. "With the new domestic season ahead, I believe it is the right time to groom a new leader, and hence, I have decided not to continue in the captaincy role. "I remain fully committed to giving my best as a player, and will continue my journey with MCA to help us win more trophies, looking forward to the season," he added. Under his captaincy, Mumbai clinched the Ranji Trophy title in the 202324 season with a victory over Vidarbha in the .

Prithvi Shaw fires back at critics after maiden FC hundred for Maharashtra

Prithvi Shaw, after the match with Chhattisgarh, talked about his plans to get back in form. Shaw said he is not looking to try new things but rather to work on his basics

Shami joins East Zone for Duleep Trophy 2025; Ishan Kishan named captain

The 2025-26 season marks the return of the traditional zonal format for the Duleep Trophy after a one-year experiment with India A, B, C and D teams

Tilak Varma to captain South Zone in the 2025 Edition of Duleep Trophy

India batter N Tilak Varma was on Sunday named as the South Zone skipper in the season-opening Duleep Trophy to be held here next month. The 22-year-old Tilak, who has played four ODIs and 25 T20Is, was in fine touch for Hampshire recently, smashing 100, 56, 47 and 112 in four innings for the English county side. Kerala players were rewarded for their excellent run till the Ranji Trophy final as four players from the state found place in the 16-member squad. They were: Mohammed Azharuddeen, who will be Tilak's deputy, MD Nidheesh, Basil NP and Salman Nizar. Tamil Nadu batter Narayan Jagadeesan, who has flown to England as a cover for the injured Rishabh Pant, senior left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore and middle-order batter Devdutt Padikkal too are in the squad. India and Karnataka pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar will lead the South Zone bowling attack. Meanwhile, prolific batter R Smaran, who was Karnataka's highest run-getter in last season's Ranji Trophy with 516 runs, has been included

Vidarbha to Karnataka: Nair set for homecoming ahead of new domestic season

Over the past two Ranji Trophy seasons, Nair's form has not just revived his career but has been pivotal in Vidarbha's rise