Duleep Trophy semis: Rajat Patidar's Central take on East, Tilak Varma-led South clash with North

BENGALURU: The Duleep Trophy reaches its business end here on Sunday with defending champions Central Zone taking on an East Zone side brimming with confidence, while last year’s runners-up South Zone face North Zone.

The last-four stage promises an intriguing contest, with East and North having negotiated the quarterfinal hurdle while Central and South received direct entry.

East Zone recorded a crushing victory over North East Zone in their quarterfinal, while North Zone scraped through a tense knockout thanks largely to left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq.

Central, led by Rajat Patidar for the second successive season, and South, last year’s runner-up, will have to hit the ground running despite not having played a game in the tournament.

Central, however, have the advantage of continuity, having retained a strong core from the side that lifted the trophy last year. Patidar comes into the tournament on the back of a prolific season in the IPL and MP T20 League, while vice-captain Rinku Singh adds experience to the middle order.

Their biggest strength could be the bowling depth. Saransh Jain, who impressed under trying circumstances in the drawn second Test against Sri Lanka, and Harsh Dubey, who recently featured in the ODIs against Afghanistan, form a quality spin combination. Yash Thakur adds pace and first-class experience, while Zeeshan Ansari, rewarded for his recent performances, will be another player to watch.

East, though, would want to build on their momentum with the young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi being at the cynosure once again. East Zone were ruthless in the quarterfinals, crushing North East Zone by an innings and 210 runs, with Bengal's Sudip Gharami and Shahbaz Ahmed striking commanding centuries.

Shahbaz also contributed with four wickets, while Anukul Roy claimed a five-wicket haul in the second innings and Abhijit Sarkar finished with six wickets in the match.

Gharami and Shahbaz's form gives East plenty of confidence, while skipper Ishan Kishan adds experience and authority to the batting line-up. Abhimanyu Easwaran brings proven First-Class pedigree, while teenage sensation Sooryavanshi, despite a modest outing with the bat in the quarterfinal, remains capable of changing the game if he gets going at the top.

South Zone vs North Zone

Last year’s runners-up South Zone have the experience to go one step further, with new captain Tilak Varma leading a strong batting unit featuring Ricky Bhui, Narayan Jagadeesan, and Karun Nair.

Nair, in particular, will look to draw on his experience in pressure situations, while Jagadeesan has been among the more consistent run-getters on the domestic circuit. Shreyas Gopal and left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan add variety to the attack, with Vidwath Kaverappa providing the pace option.

North Zone, however, arrive with the confidence of surviving a tight knockout, edging the star-studded West Zone by 52 runs in the quarterfinal.

But their selection calls has also raised eyebrows after Sanat Sangwan, North's third-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, was left out in favour of former India's U-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull.

Dhull struggled against West’s pace attack, scoring nine and a duck, while Sangwan watched from the sidelines. The selection call will remain a talking point, but North ultimately had Mushtaq to thank. The senior left-arm spinner produced outstanding match figures of 9/99 to repeatedly trouble West’s batters and snuff out their challenge.

North could also rejig their pace attack, with Sunil Kumar likely to make way for India pacer Gurnoor Brar after the latter's impressive showing for India A against Sri Lanka A, where he claimed 10 wickets in the unofficial second Test in Galle followed by encouraging performances against England in the ODIs.

Besides, North have enough batting firepower too. Vice-captain Ayush Badoni struck fifties in both innings against West and will be crucial at the top, while Abdul Samad adds power and Anshul Kamboj provides valuable runs and wickets.

South may boast the deeper batting line-up, but North have already shown they can handle pressure. That could make for a compelling semifinal between experience and momentum.