The absence of big names from both the teams notwithstanding, West Zonewould enjoy a slight edge over North Zone in their four-day quarterfinal matchof the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament starting here tomorrow.
North Zone's initial 15-member squad comprised stars in the form of VirenderSehwag, who was named the captain, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singhand Harbhajan Singh. But all of them will miss tomorrow's game for variedreasons.
While Sehwag is out with an ankle injury, Kohli and Yuvraj have opted torest, and Gambhir and Harbhajan are not available as they are leaving for SouthAfrica to play in the Champions League Twenty20.
Going by the history of the tournament, North and West Zone have been themost successful teams with 17 wins each, one shared by North and three by theWest.
In the absence of big guns, North's batting will revolve around skipperShikhar Dhawan.
But with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Parwinder Awana, Harshal Patel andVikas Mishra up its rank, North boasts of a formidable bowling attack.
On the other hand, West, captained by Cheteshwar Pujara, is better served inbatting department and also has a decent bowling attack.
West would rely on Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Kaustubh Pawar(Mumbai), Bhushan Chavan (Saurashtra), Ankit Bawne (Maharashtra) andwicket-keeper Smit Patel to deliver the goods in the batting department.
Parthiv Patel's inclusion in the team as the 16th member would further boostWest's chances.
But on the bowling front, West will miss the services of pace spearheadZaheer Khan and spin duo of Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.
Going into the match, West Zone coach Sulakshan Kulkarni was confident ofhis wards good showing tomorrow.
"We have a good team and our players are in good nick. Most of theplayers have figured in the Salve Trophy in Rajkot. So, I have high hopes fromthem," he said.
The match will be played on the newly-laid strip at the M.Chinnaswamy stadiumhere and West coach Kulkarni said the toss will play a crucial role.
"Usually the original pitch in Chepauk used to be bouncy,but it will beinteresting to see how this new wicket behaves in the next four days. Conditionsare going to be the same for both the teams and it does not matter," hesaid.
North skipper Shikhar Dhawan said both the teams are evenly poised despitethe absence of five stalwarts in his side.
"It is a game of 50-50 since the outcome of the match will be decided onthe first innings lead in case of a draw. We are not bothered about the wicketas we are expected to win matches on adverse conditions," Dhawan said.
"We have good bowlers in our rank. Vikas Mishra and Harshal Patel haveplayed in Rajkot and they are talented.
Teams (from):Â West Zone:Cheteshwar Pujara (capt, Saurashtra); AjinkyaRahane (vice-captain, Mumbai);Kaustubh Pawar (Mumbai);Bhushan Chavan (Saurashtra); Ankit Bawne(Maharashtra);Abhishek Nayar (Mumbai); Kedar Jadhav (Maharashtra); SmitPatel(wviket-keeper, Gujarat); Harmeet Singh (Mumbai); SamadFallah (Maharashtra);Murtuza Vohra (Baroda); Ishwar Choudhari(Gujarat); Kshemal Waingankar (Mumbai);Kamlesh Makwana(Saurashtra); Ankit Chavan (Mumbai); Parthiv Patel (Gujarat).
North Zone: Shikhar Dhawan (capt, Delhi); Paras Dogra(HimachalPradesh); Rajat Bhatia (Delhi); Mayank Sidana(Punjab); Nitin Saini(wicket-keeper, Haryana); Ishant Sharma(Delhi); Parwinder Awana (Delhi);Harshal Patel (Haryana);Vikas Mishra (Delhi); Rishi Dhawan (Himachal Pradesh);Ian DevSingh (Jammu & Kashmir); Rahul Dewan (Haryana); Uday Kaul(HimachalPradesh); Vipul Sharma (Punjab); Gurvinder Singh (Himachal Pradesh).
