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The final of Duleep Trophy 2023 will take place between South Zone and West Zone on Wednesday after West Zone had a draw with Central Zone and qualified on basis of their first innings lead and South Zone beat North Zone by two wickets during Saturday's semifinals. In the first semifinal, West Zone took on Central Zone. Electing to bat first, West Zone was bundled out for 220 in 92.5 overs.
West Zone on Saturday entered the Duleep Trophy final on the back of a crucial first innings lead after their semifinal clash against Central Zone ended in a draw. The summit clash between West and either South Zone or North Zone will be held at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium from July 12. Chasing an improbable 399 to win, Central could only manage 128 for 4 when the skies opened up to force the closure at tea during the Duleep Trophy semifinal at the KSCA Oval.
Cheteshwar Pujara has been dominating headlines after the veteran batter was dropped from the Indian cricket team squad for the upcoming Test series against West Indies. Following a disappointing show at the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, he lost his spot in the team with youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad receiving maiden call-ups. However, it looks like Pujara have come with a perfect response to the snub as he slammed a century for West Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy match against Central Zone. The innings had 13 boundaries.
Cheteshwar Pujara looked rock-solid while Suryakumar Yadav played his natural attacking game as their contrasting half-centuries put West Zone in complete control after left-arm medium pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla's five-wicket haul floored Central Zone on the second day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final here on Thursday. At stumps, West Zone reached 149 for 3 in their second essay, extending their overall lead to 241. This was after Shivam Mavi (6/44) quickly wrapped up the West Zone first innings for 220, for the addition of just four runs to their overnight score. But the joy turned out to be a short-lived one as Nagwaswalla, who has gone as net bowler with senior India team in 2021 tour of England, took 5/74 in 14.3 overs to decimate Central Zone for 128 in just 31.3 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made strong claims for a coveted Test cap during an intra-squad practice game ahead of the series opener against the West Indies. Jaiswal's Test debut is a matter of time but what could be a subject of discussion is his usual batting slot which is opening or one down, a position that the seasoned Cheteshwar Pujara was forced to vacate after nearly three years of non-performance and an archaic style of Test match batting.
Middle-order batter Hanuma Vihari on Tuesday accepted that making a return to the Indian team is tough, and getting dropped at times could affect a player's mindset. Vihari has been out of the Indian team since appearing against England at Birmingham in last July. "Once you are dropped or left aside from the Indian team, it is tough to make a comeback. It affects your mindset. I went through that last season," said Vihari ahead of South Zone's Duleep Trophy semifinal match against North Zone, starting in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Central Zone bowlers led by captain Shivam Mavi (4/43) silenced the big guns in the West Zone batting line-up to restrict them to 216 for 8 and take control of the proceedings on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal in Alur on Wednesday. The lone point of resistance for West came from Atit Sheth who made a composed 74 off 129 balls. West Zone entered the match as overwhelming favourites, courtesy the presence of Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan in their line-up.
Redemption will be the central theme when a clutch of cricketers from the West Zone, including Cheteshwar Pujara and Prithvi Shaw, enter the field for the Duleep Trophy semifinals against Central Zone, starting from Wednesday. For the crucial clash, the West Zone bring in Pujara, Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav and Sarfaraz Khan and all four batters need a career reboot. Pujara, a veteran of 103 Tests and over 7000 runs, has scripted tales of valour over the years. But now he finds himself out of reckoning for India. He was dropped from India's squad for the tour of West Indies after a modest outing during the World Test Championship final against Australia last month. He will be eager to make a statement of intent during the Duleep Trophy.