In what promises to be an action-filled and dramatic summit clash, defending champions West Zone will cross swords against South Zone in the 2023 Duleep Trophy final at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, starting July 12. Last year, the same two teams went toe-to-toe against each other when West emerged victorious over South in the final. This time around, Hanuma Vihari-led South would look to settle the scores.
Route to the final
South Zone stormed into the final after registering a two-wicket win over North Zone in a pulsating and rain-hit semi-final clash. On the other hand, West Zone secured their place in the final on the basis of first innings lead they secured over Central Zone in the semi-final.
The big picture and bigwigs
A brief glance over the two squads would reveal that the Duleep Trophy final is set to produce a cracking game of cricket. Both West and South squads brim with players who have a ton of international experience and youngsters with incredible potential. Thus, for a neutral, the tournament final makes for an enthralling watch.
For South, the onus would be on skipper Vihari to lead his side from the front. The 16-Test veteran and a domestic war horse, Vihari has both the skill and temperament to succeed in crunch matches. Playing at his home ground, all eyes will be on Mayank Agarwal who was the leading run-scorer in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy. Agarwal played two outstanding knocks under tremendous pressure in the semi-final. In the first innings, the elegant right-handed batter scored 76 runs while he added another 54 runs in the second innings.
Tilak Varma didn't score a half-century in the semi-final but his contribution with the bat was immense in both innings. He walked out to bat when South were tottering at 35/4 in the first innings and scored 46 runs, stitching a 110-run alliance with Agarwal. While Varma faced 101 balls in first innings, he only batted for 19 deliveries in the second innings, scoring 25 runs with the help of two sixes and that helped his team register an outright win.
All-rounder Washington Sundar had a quiet game by his standards in the semi-final and would look to make amends in the final. His ability to bat at any number and according to the situation makes him a real weapon for Vihari. With the ball, Sundar would look to hold one end up as conditions in Bengaluru are expected to be damp. Once the pitch deteriorates and cracks widen, Sundar will pose a formidable challenge to opposition batters.
Vijaykumar Vyshak and Vidhwath Kaverappa hold the key for South with the new ball. The good news for Vihari is that both bowlers are high on confidence after bagging a five-wicket haul each in the semi-final. With conditions likely to remain overcast, the duo's ability to swing the ball will come in handy for the South Zone.
Limelight on 3 Mumbaikars, Cheteshwar Pujara
In the first innings of West's semi-final clash against Central Zone, all four big names - Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Pujara and Sarfaraz Khan - failed to live up to their billing. If it wasn't for Atit Sheth's 74-run knock, West might have failed to reach the final. In the second innings, Shaw and Sarfaraz failed again but Pujara and Suryakumar delivered for their team. Pujara scored a gutsy century and was run out after scoring 133 runs while Suryakumar chipped in with 52 runs off 58 balls.
In the summit clash, West Zone would hope that its quartet of stroke-makers make their presence felt against a quality side with good bowlers.
Shaw, who has fallen way behind in the pecking order when it comes to Team India selection, would look to bring himself back in the reckoning with a solid show in the final. 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). A big score in a crunch final game will not just remind viewers of Shaw's talent but also it would do a world of good to his confidence.
With so much uproar around Sarfaraz'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 of the semi-final. After two quiet innings. the diminutive batter is due for a big score. In First Class cricket, Sarfaraz has an outstanding average of 76.32 in 38 matches played. The numbers display Sarfaraz's consistent performance over a long stretch of time.
West Zone supporters would hope that Pujara and Suryakumar pick up right from the place where they left in the semi-final. If that happens, Priyank Panchal's men would be in good stead to retain their crown. The fire-power in West's batting line-up can prove to be the difference-maker in the summit clash.
Tushar Deshpande, who bagged 23 wickets in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy and 21 wickets in IPL 2023, has been included in the West Zone squad for the final in place of injured Chetan Sakariya. Deshpande is expected to play in the final as he was in tremendous form during the IPL.
Deshpande can form a lethal pair with left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla, who bowled superbly in the semi-final and ended up with a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
Squads
South Zone Squad: Mayank Agarwal, Sai Sudharsan, Ravikumar Samarth, Hanuma Vihari(c), Ricky Bhui(w), Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, KV Sasikanth, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Pradosh Paul, N Jagadeesan, Srikar Bharat, Darshan Misal, Sachin Baby
West Zone Squad: Prithvi Shaw, Priyank Panchal(c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Het Patel(w), Atit Sheth, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chintan Gaja, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Shams Mulani, Chetan Sakariya, Harvik Desai, Tushar Deshpande, Arpit Vasavada
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