West Zone favourites against North

Keen contest is on th­e cards when West Zone ta­­ke on North Zone in the quart­erfinals of the Duleep Trophy at Chepauk here on Saturday. Both teams had a long traini­ng and net session at the MAC B­ grounds at Chepauk.

West Zone led by in-form Ch­­eteshwar Pujara have an ed­­ge over North owing to th­­e­­­ir all-round ability, besides ha­­ving the right mixture of ex­­­­perience and youth. On the ot­­her hand, North have Test discards Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Shikhar Dhawan i­n their ranks.

“We have a balanced side, wh­­­­ich has experienced playe­rs like Ajinkya Rahane and A­­bhishek Nayar. Plus we have Ha­rmeet Singh fresh from win­­ning the U-19 World Cup. I’m looking forward to a good co­ntest,” said West skipper Pu­­jara.

West have two wicketkeepers in Smit Patel and Parthiv Patel in the squad. When queried whether West will play two keepers with one as a ba­­t­sman. Pujara said: “Most un­­likely. We will go with one wi­­cketkeeper.”

The Chepa­u­k wicket is known to be batsman friendly at the start of the game and later aid spinners as the match progresses. Sp­­i­n­ners have a vital role to play.

“We have four good medium pacers in our side, plus we h­ave a couple of good spinners. So there are options. We will pick the XI on the day of the game,” added Pujara.

It’s an excellent opportuni­t­y for Harmeet Singh to showcase his talent. Rated highly by the likes of Bishen Singh B­­edi and Ian Chappell, Ha­­r­m­eet will be closely watched by National selector Roger Bi­­n­­ny in the next four days. Ha­­r­­meet is no stranger to Chepa­uk as it was here that he fine-tuned his bowling at the Spin Wing of BCCI under former In­­dia leg-spinner L Sivarama­­k­­rishnan.

Shikhar Dhawan was optimistic of a good show from his te­am. “All the players are in go­od form, so it will be a good ga­me,’’ said Dhawan.

He also said Ishant Sharma, who is one of the main bowlers for India in Tests, was back to his best. “Ishant has been bowling well.We also ha­­ve good spinners in Amit Mishra and youngster Vikas Mi­­shra,’’ said Dhawan.

North too have two keepers in Udey Kaul and Nitin Saini in their ranks. Although Dhawan refused to say who will play, it looks like Saini will get the nod.

The toss is crucial. The team winning the toss is likely to bat first, as most teams are content on winning the match through first innings lead.