Follow Vaibhav Sooryavanshi live in action in Duleep Trophy semifinal. (SCL)

The Duleep Trophy 2026-27 semifinals are into their second day, with defending champions Central Zone and last year’s runners-up South Zone looking to take control of their respective matches. Central, who earned a direct entry to the last four, are up against a confident East Zone side that stormed into the semifinals with a crushing innings-and-210-run win over North East Zone. Meanwhile, South Zone face a North Zone team riding high on momentum after their 52-run quarterfinal victory over West Zone.

At the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru, all eyes will be on 15-year-old East Zone vice-captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, though his first-class numbers (215 runs from 13 innings at 16.53) suggest he still has plenty to prove. The teenage prodigy took over the captaincy baton for a brief period when Ishan Kishan left the field on day 1.

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On the opening day of the semifinals, East Zone won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions Central Zone. The decision paid off as Central were bundled out for 266 in 80.1 overs, with Rinku Singh top-scoring with a counter-attacking 60 off 88 balls. Abhijit Sarkar (3/38) and Mukesh Kumar (3/56) led the East Zone bowling attack. In the other semifinal, North Zone chose to bat first but were restricted to 195 all out, thanks to Vidwath Kaverappa’s four-wicket haul. In reply, South Zone ended the day at 40/2, still trailing by 155 runs.

Scroll down to follow East Zone vs Central Zone & North Zone vs South Zone 2026 Duleep Trophy semifinals live updates

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Shaik Rasheed, the 21-year-old being groomed to replace Kohli and Rohit at No. 3

At the BCCI Centre of Excellence, Shaik Rasheed has just taken a blow to the ribs. It’s enough to floor him, force a short break, an ice pack, a moment to sit. When he gets back on his feet and returns to the nets, he asks the throwdown specialist to send the same delivery that troubled him. For the next 30-odd minutes he works through it, his back-foot cover drives the pick of the lot by the end.

It’s the influence of Joe Root in him, a batsman whose videos he watches constantly, idolises enough to have the same “66” on the back of his T-shirt. “I watch a lot of Root’s videos,” Rasheed tells . “I really like his back-foot punch cover drive because it is my favourite shot. When I see his batting, I learn a lot. I can connect with him. When I watch him play, I feel I’m playing. I want to learn from him how he constructs his innings in different conditions.” (READ MORE)

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