After three years, the wait for the Duleep Trophy is finally over. The Duleep Trophy 2022 is starting from 8th September 2022. Its final will be on the 21st of September. The last time this tournament was played was in the year 2019. It was not organized in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. On August 8, BCCI released the schedule of the domestic season. The 2022 domestic season will begin with the Duleep Trophy. All you need to know about the Duleep Trophy 2022 are here below.

Full schedule, squads, and everything you need to know

Format:

This time some changes have been made in the Duleep Trophy 2022. Between 2016 and 2020, three teams took part in the tournament. These teams used to be India Red, India Blue, and India Green. This year BCCI has adopted the old method of the Duleep Trophy. This time instead of three teams, a total of 6 teams will play in the tournament. These teams will divide on the basis of zones. This year the North East Zone will also participate in the Duleep Trophy. Apart from this, teams from North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone, and Central Zone will play against each other.

Moreover, The selection committee of every zone will decide the captain of their zone. Similarly, the committee of these zones plays an important role in the process of choosing the captain of these 6 teams.

Squads:

• North Zone: Yash Dhull (DDCA), Dhruv Shorey – VC (DDCA), Manan Vohra (PCA), Mandeep Singh – Captain (PCA), Himanshu Rana (HCA), Akash Vashisht (HPCA), Anmol Malhotra – WK (PCA), Mayank Dagar (HPCA), Pulkit Narang (SSCB), Navdeep Saini (DDCA), Siddharth Kaul (PCA), Jagjit Singh (UTCA), Nishant Sindhu (HCA), Qamran Iqbal (JKCA), Vikas Mishra (DDCA).

• East Zone: Manoj Tiwary – Captain (CAB), Virat Singh – VC (JSCA), Nazim Siddique (JSCA), Sudip Kumar Gharami (CAB), Shantanu Mishra (OCA), Anustup Mazumdar (CAB), Riyan Parag (ACA), Kumar Kushagra – WK (JSCA), Abishek Porel (CAB), Shabaz Ahmed (CAB), Shahbaj Nadeem (JSCA), Ishan Porel (CAB), Akash Deep (CAB), Mukthar Hussain (ACA), Mani Shankar Mura Singh (TCA).

• West Zone: Ajinkya Rahane – Captain (Mumbai), Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai), Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai), Rahul Tripathi (Maharashtra), Chiraj Jani (Saurashtra), Het Patel (Gujarat), Hardik Tamore (Mumbai), Shams Mulani (Mumbai), Tanish Kotian (Mumbai), Atit Seth (Baroda), Chintan Gaja (Gujarat), Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra), Satyajeet Bachhav (Maharashtra).

• Central Zone: Karan Sharma – Captain (UPCA), Shubham Sharma – VC (MPCA), Himanshu Mantri – WK (MPCA), Yash Dubey (MPCA), Priyam Garg (UPCA), Rinku Singh (UPCA), Ashok Maneria (RCA), Akshay Wadkar – WK (VCA), Gaurav Yadav (MPCA), Venkatesh Iyer (MPCA), Deepak Dhapola (CAU), Aniket Chaudhary (RCA), Kumar Kartikey (MPCA), Aditya Sarvatey (VCA), Ankit Rajput (UPCA).

• NorthEast Zone: Ashish Thapa – Captain (Sikkim), Techi Neri (Arunachal), Jonathan Rongsen (Nagaland), Kishan Lyngdoh (Meghalaya), Ankur Malik (Sikkim), Bishworjit K (Manipur), G Lalbiakvela (Mizoram), R K Rex (Manipur), Khrievitso Kense (Nagaland), Techi Doria (Arunachal), Dippu Sangma (Meghalaya), Hokaito Zhimomi (Nagaland), L Kishan Singa (Manipur), Bobby Z (Mizoram), Md. Al Bashid (Manipur).

Schedule:

• Quarterfinal 1: West Zone vs North East Zone, 8 September 2022 in M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
• Quarterfinal 2: North Zone vs East Zone, 8 September 2022 in CAP Ground 2, Puducherry
• Semi-final 1: Central Zone vs Winner of QF 1: 15 September 2022 in SNR College Cricket Ground, Coimbatore
• Semi-final 2: South Zone vs Winner of QF 2: 15 September 2022 in Salem Cricket Foundation Ground, Salem
• Final: Winner of SF1 vs Winner of SF2, 21 September 2022 in SNR College Cricket Ground, Coimbatore

However, a total of 5 matches will be played in this 17-day tournament. All matches of this tournament will be knockout matches and the losing team will be eliminated. Except for the final, all the matches will be of four days. Whereas the final test will be of 5 days.

Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the captain of the India A team for the tour of England as the BCCI announced the India A squad for the upcoming tour starting from 30th May 2025. 

India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton. Then they will play a practice match against the senior Indian team to prepare them for the big series against England. 

Karun Nair was rewarded for his excellent domestic form as he made a return to the India A side. His performance for the A side might decide whether he will be given a chance for the senior team or not.

Abishek Porel, who was named in the last India A's tour to Australia, has been replaced by Ishan Kishan in the side.

Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, who will be busy in the Indian Premier League for the Gujarat Titans, will join the squad from the second match. 

India A squad for the England tour

India A squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (VC) (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harsh Dubey

India A' schedule for the England tour

If anyone has followed cricket casually over the last decade, they're likely familiar with four key names: former Indian captain Virat Kohli, batting genius Steve Smith, English great Joe Root, and New Zealand's all-time leading run-scorer Kane Williamson.

They together are known as the 'Fab Four' in the modern era of cricket.

Each of them has set new benchmarks for performance, continually pushing one another to enhance their skills. These four batsmen have not only dominated the world of cricket but have also met the expectations of their respective nations.

In this article, we will examine the statistics of the Fab Four across all formats.

Fav Four in cricket: How many runs & centuries have they scored in International Cricket?

Virat Kohli has been the most prolific all-format batter among the fav-four. Kohli, till now in his 550 international games, has scored 27,599 runs with an outstanding average of 52.27. His record of 82 international centuries is only second to Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international centuries.

Read Also | Most ICC Trophies by any men's team

Joe Root comes in second among them with 20,724 runs so far for England across formats. However, undoubtedly, he has been the best test batter of his generation with 12972 test runs, which sets him as the highest test run scorer for England. Root has also scored 53 international hundreds, of which 36 came in tests only.

Read Also | Winners list of last 10 ICC Tournaments (men's)

Kane Williamson, New Zealand's highest runscorer in international cricket, comes at number three in terms of international runs among the fav four. The former Kiwi leader has scored 19,086 runs so far in his career at an average of 48.56. Kane is now only two short of reaching 50 international hundreds. 

Read Also | Most Test runs in 2024: Root, Jaiswal, Duckett and more

Aussie great Steven Smith comes at four with 17,165 runs at an average of 47.81. A late bloomer with the bat, Smith has been outstanding for Australia in tests and ODIs. Along with Root, Smith has also been one of the greatest test batters of this generation.

Here is a comparison of international stats of the fav four. 

Read Also: Most Wickets in Test Cricket

Fab Four in Cricket: Stats across different formats

Virat Kohli (IND)

Joe Root (ENG)

Kane Williamson (NZ)

Steven Smith (AUS)

Note: The article was initially written by Abishek Goswami and then got updated by Koushik Biswas

Chennai Super Kings opener Ayush Mhatre has missed out on scoring his first century in IPL against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but during this time he created history. Mhatre became the youngest batsman to score a half-century for Chennai. He achieved this feat at the age of just 17 years and 291 days. Apart from this, Ayush has become the third youngest Half-centurions in IPL. Ahead of him are Riyan Parag and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

In this article, we will be discussing about the five youngest half-centurions in IPL history.

Also Read: IPL Table toppers: IPL Playoffs teams from 2008 to 2024

Youngest Half-centurions in IPL History

1. Vaibhav Suryavanshi (2025) | 14y 32d

Vaibhav Suryavanshi, aged 14 years and 32 days by the time of playing only his third IPL match in the 2025 season, rained down 11 huge sixes and seven boundaries against Gujarat Titans bowlers. The teenager smashed his maiden half-century in the game to become youngest half-centurions in IPL history. Suryavanshi ended up converting it into a splendid 35-ball century, the second fastest in the history of the tournament.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s innings helped Rajasthan Royals thwart Gujarat Titans’ strong new ball and spin attack during their pursuit of 210 runs.

2. Riyan Parag (2019) | 17y 175d

Riyan Parag registered his first half-century in the IPL at the age of 17 years and 175 days back in 2019 during Rajasthan Royal's final league stage match against Delhi Capitals. On a day when most Rajasthan Royals batsmen struggled with the bat, Riyan Parag displayed maturity beyond his years to take his team to 115/9 in their stipulated quota of 20 overs.

Batting at number six and arriving at the crease at 30-4 inside the powerplay, Parag bided his time across 49 deliveries to score 50 runs, laced with four fours and two sixes, in Delhi. His innings helped Rajasthan Royals post a respectable 115-9, having once headed for a much worse collapse. The Capitals ended up winning the match by five wickets in 16.1 overs.

3. Ayush Mhatre (2025) | 17y 291d

Ayush Mhatre scored his maiden IPL half-century in just 25 balls to become the third youngest player to score a half-century in the history of the league. The 17-year-old smashed 94 runs off just 48 deliveries in the game. His innings included 9 fours and 5 sixes. Mhatre missed his much deserved century by 6 runs.

Mhatre also became the youngest player of Chennai Super Kings in IPL history to register a half-century. He left Suresh Raina behind, after hitting a fifty at the age of 17 years and 291 days. Raina who previously held the record had achieved the feat in 2008 at the age of 21 years and 148 days in a match against Mumbai Indians.

4. Sanju Samson (2013) | 18y 169d

A Rajasthan Royals batter through and through, Sanju Samson blazed his team to an emphatic four-wicket victory against RCB, as a teenager. Playing his first IPL season back in 2013, Samson helped Rajasthan pull off a 172-run chase by cracking 63 runs from just 41 balls with seven boundaries and two huge sixes at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Batting at number three, the talented right-hander took on the likes of RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Vinay Kumar head-on to bag the ‘Player of the Match’ award. He was 18 years and 169 days at the time to become IPL’s youngest half-centurion.

Also Read: Most IPL Finals: Teams with most final appearances in IPL history

5. Prithvi Shaw (2018) | 18y 169d

In just the second match of his IPL career, Prithvi Shaw smashed 62 runs from 44 balls, doing so against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match 26 of the 2018 season. Opening the innings for Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) alongside Colin Munro, Shaw smashed seven boundaries and two sixes in the innings as his team mounted 219-4 from 20 overs.

Aged 18 years and 169 days at the time, the talented right-handed opening batter became one of the youngest half-centurions in IPL history.

In a competitive league like the IPL, the role of the captain is extremely important. Here we are about to spotlight the skippers who did not just lead from the front, but also tasted victory.

We have some renowned names for the most wins after 76 games as captain in the IPL.

MS Dhoni (46 wins after 76 games)

Focusing on the most wins after 76 games in IPL, MS Dhoni is a clear winner. He captained 2 teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants, in the span of 2008-2025.

Dhoni holds a record of 46 wins after 76 games in IPL which is the highest so far. He also played the most number of matches as a captain (231 matches) and won 134 among them, with a win percentage of 58%.

Also Read: Most ICC Finals as captain

Rohit Sharma (46 wins after 76 games)

Rohit Sharma is another big name that comes to everyone's mind when we track captaincy record in IPL, who also happens to level Dhoni's record of 46 wins after 76 games. He served as a captain for Mumbai Indians from 2013 to 2023.

The five-times IPL winning captain has played a total of 158 matches and won 87 as the skipper, with a win percentage of 56%.

Also Read: Most Wickets in IPL as a Captain

Shreyas Iyer (44 wins in 76 games)

Shreyas Iyer is another successful IPL captain who is doing impressively well in the current years of this tournament. Shreyas has been a part of 3 teams as a captain, namely- Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. 

He led Kolkata Knight Riders to lift the IPL 2024 trophy with his magnificent captaincy throughout the season. He also helped DC reached their first IPL final as a captain in IPL 2019. Shreyas is yet again doing a pretty commendable job as a captain for PBKS in IPL 2025.

Iyer has 44 wins after 76 games under his name as a captain and is set to win more.

IPL 2025 has been a mixture of talents and unpredictable moments. The spotlight always falls on the players who are bought for a high price in the auction.

In 2025 IPL, the spotlight is on two big names that fans were expecting big things from. This article examines Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer's IPL 2025 disappointments that sparked heated discussions for being expensive flops.

Rishabh Pant's ₹27 crore letdown 

Rishabh Pant, who captained DC in the last season, was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants as the most expensive player in IPL history for ₹27 crore. He is having an extremely disappointing IPL season this year. He scored 110 runs in 10 matches so far, with an average of 12.22 and a strike rate below 100.

LSG has won 5 out of 10 matches, and Pant has gone out for a duck twice in those. Fans expected him to take greater responsibilities this year as a captain, considering the kind of quality batter he is. 

The franchise has managed to win matches with team efforts, but lacked the support from their skipper. Pant scored 63 in 49 balls against CSK but failed to be consistent in the following matches.

Questions have also been raised about his annual contract with BCCI, and we are yet to see a steady comeback after his massive flop. The weight of the price tag definitely appears to have become a heavy burden.

Pant's IPL 2025 batting figures:

• vs DC- 0(6)
• vs SRH- 15(15)
• vs PBKS- 2(5)
• vs MI- 2(6)
• vs CSK- 63(49)
• vs RR- 3(9)
• vs MI- 4(2)

Venkatesh Iyer's costly silence 

Venkatesh Iyer's 2025 season with Kolkata Knight Riders serves as another big example of expensive letdown. He has delivered consistent performance for the franchise in previous years and was a major pillar of contribution for the defending champions. 

KKR reacquired him with a huge ₹23.75 crore with the hopes of him proving to be their key player, but it was all a flop show. The team is currently not doing well in the points table, having 4 wins in 10 matches, and this is the crucial stage where they need him to step out.

Venkatesh scored 142 runs in 10 matches, with an average of 20.29, which makes the question stand strong: was the big price worth it?

IPL 2025 batting figures:

• vs RCB- 6(7)
• vs MI- 3(9)
• vs SRH- 60(29)
• vs LSG- 45(29)
• vs PBKS- 7(4)
• GT- 14(19)
• vs DC- 7(5)