In the Duleep Trophy 2023 semi-final match between West Zone and Central Zone, the household names in Indian cricket failed miserably with the bat. West Zone suffered a major batting collapse on Day 1 of the ongoing semi-final after big names like Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan failed miserably and didn't live up to their billing. West Zone captain Priyank Panchal also failed to deliver with the bat and, as a result, the team was restricted to 63/4 at Lunch on Day 1.
The only good news for West Zone is that veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara is still in the middle, holding the fort at one end. At Lunch on Day 1, the right-handed batter was unbeaten on seven runs off 47 deliveries.
Shaw, who has fallen way behind in the pecking order when it comes to Team India selection, was the first West Zone batter to take the long walk back to the pavilion. The diminutive right-handed batter scored 26 runs off 54 balls with the help of four boundaries. The Mumbai batter has been struggling to score runs with the bat of late and was even dropped from Delhi Capitals' playing XI in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Suryakumar Yadav, who was called into the West Zone squad after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturah Gaikwad were selected for the Indian Test team for the West Indies tour, couldn't make any significant contribution with the bat on Day 1. The charismatic batter managed just seven runs off 15 balls.
With so much uproar around Sarfaraz Khan's non-selection in India's Test squad for the West Indies tour, the Mumbai batter did himself no favour as he registered a duck on Day 1. Sarfaraz batted for 12 balls but failed to even open his account.
For Central Zone, Shivam Mavi did the bulk of the damage as he bagged two wickets in the opening session. Yash Thakur and Saurabh Kumar bagged a wicket each.
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