The Duleep Trophy is one of the most important competitions in the Indian Domestic Cricket circuit. It was kick-started by the Indian Board in 1961-62 in the name of Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji Jadeja, Duleepsinhji, born in 1905 in, the princely state of Gujarat, played most of his Cricket in and for England. The aim behid starting this championship was to strengthen the structure of Indian Domestic Cricket which seemed to become stagnant with only Ranji Trophy being the prime competitive tournament.

Duleep trophy was started as an inter-zonal event, where five zones of India, namely, East, West, North, South and Central played each other on a knock-out basis. In 1993-94, the tournament was converted into a league format. In 2002-03, the zonal structure was abandoned and five new teams were formed, namely, Elite A, Elite B, Elite C, Plate A and Plate B. But this change proved to be unsuccessful and lasted only for one season. From 2003-04 season, the zonal structure was readopted and the induction of a foreign guest team was made. The first guest team was England A in 2003-04. In the subsequent seasons, teams from other countries have also joined the championship.

The inaugural Duleep Trophy match was played between South zone and North Zone at Madras. Since then, West Zone has bagged the trophy 14 times, which is maximum. The East zone is the only team which has not tasted victory in this competition. On three occasions, the trophy has been shared due to draws in finals.

Though the Ranji Trophy is considered to be the highest level of Indian domestic Cricket, Duleep trophy has proved to be equally important in more than one ways. As it is a competition among different zones and not states, the best players from all zones are picked every season. Duleep Trophy has also come to being the best platform for the young aspiring cricketers who dream of donning the India cap.