Both the opening matches will be quarter-finals. South Zone and West Zone have been given a direct ticket to the semi-finals by virtue of their being the 2023 finalists when the tournament was last played in this format.

The five-match knockout event kickstarts the domestic cricket calendar, and although India are scheduled to play only four Tests this year — two each against West Indies and South Africa at home — there’s still enough context to inspire a more than decent contest.

Thanks to regular changes in format and the unforgiving international calendar prompting a lack of stardust, Duleep Trophy has, over the years, lost its sheen. Once regarded as an audition for India’s red-ball team, the tournament has fallen down the pecking order with top performers — the likes of Priyank Panchal, Prabhsimran Singh, Saurabh Kumar — not even in India’s red-ball scheme of things.

All that changed, at least for now, earlier this year following India’s 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In March, BCCI came up with 10 SOPs for contracted cricketers, making it mandatory for them to play domestic cricket, if available. This means despite the absence of retired stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara, the injured Rishabh Pant and the unwell Shubman Gill, there will be enough big-ticket players in the Aug 28-Sept 15 tournament in Bengaluru.

Test cricketers KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Sai Sudharsan and Prasidh Krishna do not feature in the South Zone squad while Ravindra Jadeja is a notable absentee in the West Zone side. All these players were part of India’s draining tour of England that ended early this month. However, they are not part of the Asia Cup team.

Among those who will be playing, all eyes will be on Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan, two players who seem to have fallen out of favour. Iyer’s non-selection for the Asia Cup, especially after a productive Champions Trophy and IPL, raised questions while Sarfaraz, after warming the bench in Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was shunted out of the Test squad that toured England. The 27-year-old batter has been in fine form, slamming two tons for Mumbai in the Buchi Babu invitational in Chennai.

A productive Duleep Trophy will give a major fillip to the efforts of Iyer and Sarfaraz for a Test return. India tried Sai Sudharsan at No.3 in three Tests in England while Karun Nair also got a good run at No.3 in addition to a few innings at No.6 on his return after more than eight years. Neither could grab the opportunity despite batting conditions, but with Sudharsan still only 23, Iyer and Sarfaraz could vie for the No.6 spot come October.

The bowling units across teams feature some international quality as well with the oft-neglected wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav set to turn out for the Dhruv Jurel-led Central Zone. Kuldeep was not picked in any of the five Tests in England and the snub should fire him up to produce a defining performance. Central will be bolstered by Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar. RCB’s IPL-winning skipper, who played the last of his three Tests 18 months back, would like to find form this domestic season to present his case for a possible Test return.

Pacer Anshul Kamboj, who played a Test in England, and left-armer Arshdeep Singh, who was in line for a Test debut at The Oval but didn’t get to play, are in the North Zone team, which will be led by Haryana batter Ankit Kumar in Gill’s absence.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, waiting for a Test debut after piling on runs in domestic cricket for years, will have another go as he leads East Zone. In Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, he will have a potent new-ball attack. Shami’s fitness will be under observation after the pacer missed the Australia tour and was not considered for the England Tests.

This Duleep Trophy will also see BCCI trial the ‘serious injury replacement substitute’ rule for the first time.