Duleep Trophy

The Duleep Trophy (named after KS Duleepsinhji) was started by the Indian board in 1961-62 as a zonal rather than a state first-class competition. The original format was that five teams, drawn from the five zones - North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone - played each other on a knock-out basis. From 1993-94 the competition converted to a league format. In 2002-03 the zonal teams were replaced by five new sides - Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B but this lasted for only one season as it was felt that the new teams lacked a sense of identity. From 2003-04 the zones returned and an overseas guest side was included. The first was England A. The tournament didn't take place in 2015-16 but returned the next season with a different format - the teams weren't separated by zones, instead the best players in the country were taken and distributed into three teams, India Red, Blue and Green. It was also the first time first-class matches in India were played with the pink ball.