The Duleep Trophy has reached the stage where there is very little room for error. Four teams remain, two places are available in the final, and the attention is beginning to shift from simply winning a zonal contest to what these matches could mean for the future of Indian red-ball cricket. The 2026 Duleep Trophy semi-finals will be played at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, with East Zone taking on Central Zone and North Zone facing South Zone. There is plenty to watch in both games. East Zone have arrived after a commanding quarter-final victory, with teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again attracting most of the attention. On the other side, Central Zone have the experience and balance to test him in conditions that demand patience. The second semi-final has its own major storyline. Gurnoor Brar returns to North Zone after being part of India’s Test setup, giving him an important opportunity to get more red-ball cricket under his belt. His contest against South Zone’s experienced batting group could be one of the most interesting battles of the match. For the players involved, this is about much more than reaching a domestic final. These are the kind of matches where performances can influence the next India A squad, future Test selections and the wider red-ball plans of Indian cricket. Duleep Trophy 2026 Semi-Finals: What Is at Stake? The Duleep Trophy has traditionally been an important platform for players trying to move closer to the Indian Test side. That role has become even more significant as the domestic calendar continues to produce a steady stream of young talent. The semi-finals provide four teams with a chance to play against stronger opposition while handling the pressure of a knockout match. There is also an obvious individual angle. A batter who makes a hundred here, a fast bowler who produces a five-wicket haul or an all-rounder who controls a game can quickly find his name entering selection conversations. For the younger players, it is an opportunity to show that their game can survive when the opposition gets stronger. For established players, it is a chance to remind selectors that they are still ready. And for players coming back from international duty, it is about maintaining rhythm. That makes this year’s semi-finals particularly interesting. East Zone vs Central Zone: Youth Meets Experience East Zone enter their semi-final with plenty of confidence after their dominant quarter-final performance against North East Zone. They won that match by an innings and 210 runs, putting themselves firmly into the last four. Now the challenge is considerably tougher. Central Zone have a well-balanced side and enough experience to make East Zone work for every run. The biggest individual storyline, however, is obvious. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old has already spent most of 2026 breaking records, but the Duleep Trophy offers him a completely different examination. This is red-ball cricket. There is no powerplay. There are no fielding restrictions forcing captains to keep men inside the circle. A batter cannot simply rely on attacking the first few overs. The bowlers can build pressure over long spells, change their lines, set fields specifically for one batter and wait for mistakes. For Vaibhav, that makes this match an important part of his development. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Red-Ball Test There is no doubt about Vaibhav’s ability to dominate white-ball cricket. His 2026 IPL season was extraordinary, and his performances for India at the senior level have already created enormous attention. But red-ball cricket asks different questions. Can he leave the ball outside off stump? Can he bat for 100 or 150 balls without feeling the need to attack? Can he recover after losing an early wicket? Can he score when the boundary options are limited? Those are the questions Central Zone’s bowlers are likely to ask. The answer will not come from one innings. But every long stay at the crease will add something to his education. Why This Match Matters for Vaibhav It would be easy to look at Vaibhav’s age and simply treat this match as another opportunity for a teenager to gain experience. But he has already moved beyond that stage. The expectations around him are now enormous. He has played international cricket. He has scored hundreds in the IPL. He has dominated Under-19 cricket. That means the next part of his journey is learning how to handle situations where the game does not suit his natural attacking instincts. A patient 80 could tell us as much about his development as another quick hundred. In fact, it might tell us more. Central Zone Have the Tools to Challenge East Zone Central Zone will not be interested in Vaibhav’s age or reputation. Their job will simply be to get him out. That could mean attacking him early with the new ball before he gets settled, or using changes of pace and spin once he begins to dominate. Central Zone’s experienced players also give them the ability to absorb pressure. That could become important if East Zone start strongly. In knockout cricket, momentum can change quickly. A team can dominate for two sessions and suddenly find itself under pressure after losing three wickets. Central Zone’s ability to stay in the game could therefore be just as important as their ability to take wickets. East Zone’s Biggest Strength: Momentum East Zone have already shown what they can do when their players get on top. Their quarter-final victory was emphatic. The bowling attack put North East Zone under constant pressure, while the batting lineup gave the bowlers plenty of room to work with. Now they have to reproduce that intensity against a stronger opponent. The semi-final will also test whether their younger players can maintain their composure when the match becomes tight. A four-day knockout game can change direction several times. East Zone will need patience. They cannot afford to chase the game if Central Zone begin well. North Zone vs South Zone: Gurnoor Brar Returns The second semi-final has perhaps the

There are plenty of young cricketers who are called “the next big thing”. Very few actually live up to the noise around them. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is already taking a different route. At just 15 years old, the left-handed batter from Bihar has already played first-class cricket, represented India at Under-19 level, won an IPL contract, made his IPL debut, scored a century in the IPL, starred in an Under-19 World Cup final, won the IPL Orange Cap, played for India A and then became the youngest player ever to represent India in men’s international cricket. And somehow, his story is still only beginning. Born on March 27, 2011, in Tajpur, Bihar, Vaibhav has travelled an extraordinary distance in a very short period. His journey is not simply about the huge sixes or the records. Behind those headlines is a story of early training, family support, domestic cricket, coaches who worked on his basics and a teenager who has repeatedly been willing to test himself against players much older than him. As of August 30, 2026, Vaibhav is playing the Duleep Trophy for East Zone, adding another chapter to a career that has already moved through several levels of Indian cricket. His first Duleep Trophy match did not go according to plan with the bat, but he responded by taking two wickets with his left-arm spin. East Zone then reached the semi-finals, where they face Central Zone on August 30. This is the story of how he got here. Growing Up in Bihar Vaibhav Suryavanshi comes from Tajpur in Samastipur district of Bihar. His cricket journey began unusually early. His family noticed his interest in the game when he was still a very young child, and his father played an important role in supporting that ambition. The early years were not glamorous. There were long journeys for training, repeated practice sessions and the sort of routine that slowly builds a young cricketer’s game. His coach, Manish Ojha, has spoken about how much attention was given to fundamentals rather than simply trying to turn Vaibhav into a power-hitter. The work included the cut, upper-cut, pull and drive, along with footwork and head position. That detail matters because it gives a different picture of Vaibhav. The teenager who now hits sixes at extraordinary rates did not simply arrive with raw power. There was considerable work on his basic technique before the big stages came calling. His father remained closely involved throughout those early years. Even after Vaibhav became an IPL player, one of the first people he wanted to call after his historic IPL century was his father. That small moment said a lot about the relationship behind the cricket career. A Boy Who Wanted to Play Against Bigger Challenges What separated Vaibhav from many young players was his willingness to play against older opposition. Rather than spending all his formative years only in age-group cricket, he was exposed to senior cricket remarkably early. That eventually led him into Bihar’s domestic setup. And then came a moment that changed the way people looked at him. Ranji Trophy Debut at 12 In January 2024, Vaibhav made his first-class debut for Bihar against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He was only 12 years and 284 days old. That made him the second-youngest player to appear in the Ranji Trophy. The match itself was not a fairy-tale batting performance. Against a strong Mumbai side, Vaibhav scored 19 in the first innings and 12 in the second. Bihar were bowled out for 100 in both innings and suffered an innings defeat. But the importance of the match was not really about the numbers on the scoreboard. He had entered senior first-class cricket while still a child. The experience exposed him to bowlers with years of professional cricket behind them. It also gave him a taste of the demands of red-ball cricket, something that would become an important part of the discussion around his development later. 2024: The Year Everything Started Moving Quickly If the Ranji Trophy debut introduced Vaibhav to senior cricket, 2024 was the year he began making an international name for himself. He became part of India’s Under-19 setup and soon found himself playing against Australia Under-19. In October 2024, he produced one of the innings that first made international cricket sit up and take notice. The 58-Ball Century Against Australia U19 Playing in a Youth Test against Australia Under-19 in Chennai, the 13-year-old smashed 104 from just 62 balls. His century came in only 58 balls. It was the fastest century by an Indian batter in Youth Tests at the time and the second-fastest overall, behind Moeen Ali’s 56-ball hundred from 2005. Vaibhav’s innings included five sixes and 14 fours. This was a different kind of statement. It was not a domestic age-group tournament. It was India against Australia, and Vaibhav was taking on an international youth attack with an attacking style that would soon become his trademark. The innings also helped establish something that has followed him ever since: Vaibhav does not seem particularly interested in waiting for the game to come to him. He wants to attack. The IPL Auction: Rajasthan Royals Take the Gamble Only a few weeks after his Australia U19 century, Vaibhav’s career took another huge turn. The 2025 IPL auction was held in November 2024. At 13, Vaibhav became the youngest player ever to be sold at an IPL auction. Rajasthan Royals bought him for ₹1.10 crore. That was a huge moment for a teenager who had only recently begun appearing on the wider cricket radar. The Royals had seen enough during his trials to believe that his game could translate to the IPL. The decision also reflected Rajasthan’s long-standing willingness to invest in young players. The franchise had previously backed players such as Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag at different stages of their development. Vaibhav became the next teenage project, except that his age made the signing extraordinary even by IPL standards. For Vaibhav,

India Women begin their Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 campaign against Thailand Women on Sunday, August 30, at the Dubai International Stadium. The match is scheduled for 8:00 PM IST and will be India’s first Group A fixture of the tournament. On paper, India enter the contest as clear favourites. They have greater experience, a deeper batting lineup and several players who have spent years playing at the highest level. But Thailand have already shown in the opening game that they are not simply here to make up the numbers. They beat Hong Kong, China by six runs in a closely fought match, giving themselves an early boost in Group A. For India, though, this match is about more than just getting two points. The team will want a strong start and, perhaps more importantly, some confidence in their T20 game after an inconsistent run. India vs Thailand: Match Overview The defending champions begin their campaign with a matchup that looks favourable on paper. India have won three of the five Women’s Asia Cup editions played in the T20 format, and they are once again among the leading contenders for the trophy. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead a side packed with familiar names. Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh give India experience in all three departments, while the squad also has younger players capable of making an impact. Thailand, meanwhile, arrive with some momentum. Their six-run win over Hong Kong was not a one-sided affair. They had to defend 120, and their bowlers managed to hold their nerve when Hong Kong threatened to chase the target. That result should give Thailand plenty of belief going into their second game. India will therefore be expected to control the match, but Thailand’s disciplined bowling could make the contest more interesting than the rankings might suggest. India’s Big Advantage: Top-Order Batting If India are to dominate this game, much of the pressure will fall on their opening pair. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma give India two very different styles at the top. Mandhana can build an innings with timing and placement, while Shafali has the ability to change the game within a few overs by taking on the bowlers. That combination is particularly dangerous in the T20 format. If India get a fast start in the powerplay, Thailand could quickly find themselves defending against a scoreboard that is already moving beyond their comfort zone. The bigger advantage for India is what comes after the openers. Richa Ghosh provides genuine finishing ability, while Deepti Sharma brings both batting depth and experience. Harmanpreet Kaur also remains an important figure in the middle order, particularly when India lose an early wicket and need someone to steady the innings before accelerating again. India do not necessarily need one batter to score a huge individual hundred. Their strength is the number of players capable of contributing meaningful runs. Pratika Rawal Gets an Important Opportunity One of the major talking points around India’s squad is the absence of Jemimah Rodrigues. Rodrigues has been ruled out of the Asia Cup after suffering a high-grade right hamstring tear while playing in The Hundred. The BCCI subsequently named Pratika Rawal as her replacement. It is an unfortunate absence for India because Rodrigues has been an important part of their T20 setup. For Rawal, however, this represents a valuable opportunity. The replacement is not simply about filling a vacant squad position. India need someone who can provide stability in the middle order while still keeping the scoring rate moving. Rawal’s inclusion gives the team another option as they work out the best combination for the tournament. With three group matches before the knockout stage, India also have some room to experiment with combinations. Thailand’s Spin Challenge Thailand’s biggest hope will probably be to make India’s batters work hard during the middle overs. Their bowling attack does not have the same pace resources or international experience as India, so variations and disciplined lines will be important. Thipatcha Putthawong and Suleeporn Laomi are among the bowlers Thailand will look towards to slow India’s scoring. The idea will be fairly simple: avoid giving the Indian batters easy boundaries and force them to take risks. This could become particularly important if Thailand can restrict India during overs 7 to 15. India’s top order may be able to dominate the powerplay, but if Thailand can introduce spin effectively and pick up wickets in the middle, the pressure can shift quickly. That is probably Thailand’s best route into the game. Thailand Have Already Shown Fighting Spirit Thailand’s opening match against Hong Kong should not be overlooked. They posted 120/9 and then defended the total successfully, with Hong Kong finishing on 114/7. A six-run victory might not sound huge, but defending a modest total requires good bowling discipline and composure. That result means Thailand enter this match with something India do not necessarily have at the same stage: a win already on the board. They will also have a better understanding of how the Dubai surface is behaving under match conditions. Thailand know they cannot compete with India simply by trying to out-hit them. Their best chance is to turn the game into a contest of patience, particularly through the middle overs. Dubai Pitch and Weather: What Could Matter? The Dubai International Stadium will host every match of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup, making familiarity with the conditions important throughout the tournament. The surface generally offers enough bounce for stroke-making, but conditions can change as the evening progresses. The toss could therefore have some significance. With the match being played under floodlights, dew could make the ball harder to grip later in the evening. If that happens, chasing may become the more attractive option. For the spinners, the key will be getting their work done before the conditions become too difficult. Thailand, in particular, will want to use their slow bowlers at the right moments rather than simply saving them for the end. India’s bowling attack will

For a player who had spent years waiting for his chance, Auqib Nabi’s India call-up came in a rather unexpected way. He was not part of the original Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour. He was actually on his way to the BCCI Centre of Excellence when a phone call changed his plans. Jasprit Bumrah had been ruled out of the series because of his ongoing left-knee problem, and suddenly Nabi was on his way to Sri Lanka as his replacement. The timing may have been unexpected, but the selection itself was hardly a surprise. For the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, Nabi has been doing almost everything a fast bowler can do to get noticed. He took 104 wickets across the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, including an extraordinary 60 wickets in the 2025-26 campaign. Those performances played a major role in Jammu & Kashmir winning their first-ever Ranji Trophy title. Now, at 29, the Baramulla-born pacer is standing on the edge of Test cricket. He has already made history as the first cricketer from Jammu & Kashmir to receive a call-up to India’s senior Test squad. And there is a lot more to his story than the numbers. From waiting for a call to finally getting one Nabi’s journey is interesting partly because the call-up did not come when many expected it. His 60-wicket Ranji season was impossible to ignore. He finished as the competition’s leading wicket-taker and was a central figure in Jammu & Kashmir’s historic title run. He took five-wicket hauls in the quarter-final, semi-final and final, finishing the season with eight five-wicket hauls. Yet when India’s original Test squad for Sri Lanka was announced, Nabi’s name was missing. That could have been frustrating. Instead, he carried on. Nabi later admitted that he expected an India call-up at some point because of the performances he had been putting together. His approach was simple: keep taking wickets and let the selectors make the decision. That attitude says quite a lot about the bowler. He was not waiting around for somebody to hand him an opportunity. He was trying to make himself impossible to ignore. Eventually, Bumrah’s injury opened the door. Nabi was ready to walk through it. The numbers behind the hype The easiest way to understand why Nabi’s name has become so prominent is to look at his first-class record. He has taken 162 wickets in 43 first-class matches, with a bowling average of 18.63 and a strike rate of 38.5. He has also taken 16 five-wicket hauls and four 10-wicket matches. Then came the last two Ranji seasons. 2024-25: 44 wickets 2025-26: 60 wickets Two-season total: 104 wickets The second figure is particularly impressive. His 60 wickets in 2025-26 were the highest in the tournament, and ESPN’s statistical review placed the haul seventh among all bowlers in a single Ranji Trophy season and third among fast bowlers. Only Jaydev Unadkat’s 67 in 2019-20 and Dodda Ganesh’s 62 in 1998-99 were higher among Ranji seamers. That is not a hot streak over a handful of matches. It is sustained red-ball production. And that is exactly what makes Nabi such an interesting prospect for Test cricket. He has built his reputation the old-fashioned way There is something refreshing about Nabi’s rise. He has not been picked because of one spectacular spell in a franchise tournament. His reputation was built over four-day cricket. Long spells. Hard wickets. New-ball bowling. Old-ball bowling. Bowling when the conditions are helpful and, perhaps more importantly, when they are not. That matters because Test cricket asks very different questions of a fast bowler. You cannot simply bowl four overs, give everything you have and walk off. You may need to bowl 15 overs in an innings. Then another 10. Then come back the following day. You have to maintain your line when your legs are tired. You have to understand when to attack the stumps and when to make the batter play away from his body. Nabi’s first-class background suggests he has already spent plenty of time learning those lessons. His 60-wicket season was the real turning point Jammu & Kashmir’s Ranji Trophy triumph was historic in itself. But Nabi was the driving force behind much of it. He finished the 2025-26 season with 60 wickets and was named Player of the Tournament. His five-wicket haul in the final against Karnataka took him to the top of the wicket-taking charts. What made the season special was the consistency. He was not taking five wickets once every few months. He kept coming back with important spells. When J&K needed to win a knockout match, Nabi delivered. When the team needed an early breakthrough, he delivered. When the opposition had settled into a partnership, he found a way to break it. That is exactly the sort of reliability selectors look for in a red-ball fast bowler. He has already had a taste of international-level cricket Another reason Nabi’s Test call-up makes sense is that he had already been around the India A setup. He was part of the India A tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year and took six wickets in two first-class matches. That experience was useful for more than the wickets. He got to bowl in Sri Lankan conditions. He got to see how the pitches behaved. He experienced the heat and humidity. And he spent time around players and coaches operating just below the senior international level. One of his more useful performances came in the unofficial Test, where he took a four-wicket haul. So when the India call finally came, Nabi was not travelling into completely unfamiliar territory. He had already spent time in the country. He knew what to expect. What kind of bowler is Auqib Nabi? Nabi is a right-arm fast bowler whose biggest strength appears to be his ability to create pressure through consistency. That might not sound as exciting as saying a bowler is lightning quick or produces outrageous swing. But Test cricket has always

India will head to Dubai at the end of August with something to prove. The Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 begins on August 28, and Harmanpreet Kaur’s side will be looking to bring the trophy back after missing out in the previous edition. The tournament will be played entirely at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with eight teams competing for the continental title. There is one small correction worth making at the start: India are not the defending champions this time. Sri Lanka are. Sri Lanka won their maiden Women’s Asia Cup title in 2024 by beating India in the final. India, however, remain the most successful team in the tournament’s overall history, with seven titles across the ODI and T20 eras. In the T20 format specifically, India have won three editions 2012, 2016 and 2022. So the story heading into Dubai is not about India defending their crown. It is about India trying to reclaim it. And after a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year, this tournament has arrived at an interesting time for Harmanpreet’s team. Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026: At a Glance The tournament will run from August 28 to September 13, with all 15 matches taking place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Eight teams have been divided into two groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. Details Information Tournament Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 Dates August 28 – September 13 Venue Dubai International Cricket Stadium Teams 8 Format T20 International Defending champions Sri Lanka Most successful team India – 7 overall titles India captain Harmanpreet Kaur India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana Final September 13 The group stage will be followed by semi-finals on September 10 and 11, with the final scheduled for September 13. All matches are scheduled under lights, starting at 6:30 PM local time in Dubai, which is 8:00 PM IST. India Have a Point to Prove India’s recent T20 story has been a mixture of good signs and frustrating results. The team went into the 2026 T20 World Cup with genuine expectations after winning the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup and beating Australia in a T20I series earlier in the year. Smriti Mandhana spoke before the World Cup about carrying that confidence into the tournament and believed India’s improving power-hitting could make the side more dangerous in the shortest format. The World Cup, however, did not go India’s way. They were knocked out in the group stage after losing their must-win final group match against Australia at Lord’s. Australia chased down India’s 170/4 with six wickets in hand, ending India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals. That result will still be fresh in the players’ minds. But there is a positive way of looking at it. The Asia Cup gives India a chance to start again. This is a shorter tournament, the opposition is familiar and there is no room for a long losing run. India have to get their combinations right quickly. India Are in Group A India have been placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong, China. Group B consists of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and Indonesia. On paper, India should be one of the favourites to finish in the top two. But the group-stage match everyone will immediately circle on the calendar is obvious. India vs Pakistan — September 5. It is only a group match, but India-Pakistan games rarely feel like ordinary group matches. India Women’s Asia Cup 2026 Full Schedule India have three group-stage matches before the knockout phase. Date Match Venue Time (IST) August 30 India Women vs Thailand Women Dubai 8:00 PM September 3 India Women vs Hong Kong, China Women Dubai 8:00 PM September 5 India Women vs Pakistan Women Dubai 8:00 PM India’s opening game is against Thailand on August 30, followed by Hong Kong, China on September 3. Then comes the big one against Pakistan on September 5. If India take care of those three games, they should be in a strong position heading into the semi-finals. But the Pakistan match could have a major bearing on who finishes top of Group A. India vs Pakistan Could Set the Tone The September 5 clash is easily the biggest group-stage fixture of the tournament. Pakistan are also in Group A, and their squad will be led by Fatima Sana, who returns as captain after missing Pakistan’s recent T20I series against Sri Lanka because of her commitments in The Hundred. Pakistan have never won the Women’s Asia Cup, but they have reached the final twice, in 2012 and 2016, losing both times to India. This time, they have a chance to make a statement against a team that is still trying to find its best T20 combination. India will start favourites, but Pakistan have enough individual quality to make the game uncomfortable if India lose early wickets. India’s Updated Asia Cup Squad The biggest selection story surrounding India’s squad is the absence of Jemimah Rodrigues. Jemimah suffered a high-grade right hamstring tear while playing for Southern Brave in The Hundred on August 3. The BCCI medical team confirmed the injury after assessing her at the Centre of Excellence, and she has been ruled out of both the Asia Cup and the Asian Games. Pratika Rawal has been named as her replacement for the Asia Cup. India’s 15-member squad is: It is a squad with plenty of experience, but there are also several younger players who could get important opportunities during the tournament. Jemimah’s Absence Changes India’s Batting Balance Jemimah’s injury is a genuine blow. She has been one of India’s most dependable middle-order batters and has the ability to play according to the situation rather than simply following one approach. Her absence means India will have to decide how they want to fill the gap. Pratika Rawal is the obvious replacement in the squad, but there are other options. Bharti Fulmali can provide another batting option, while Richa Ghosh offers attacking ability lower down the