India, Aug. 27 -- After a brief dalliance with the four-team round robin format, Duleep Trophy will revert to the traditional zonal structure as it kicks off with North Zone facing East Zone and Central Zone meeting North East Zone at BCCI's Centre of Excellence grounds in Bengaluru from Thursday.

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 ...