Duleep Trophy semi-finals: All you need to know
What's the story
The Duleep Trophy semi-finals are all set to get underway on Monday. The first match will see East Zone take on defending champions Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1. Meanwhile, North Zone will lock horns with South Zone in the second semi-final at BCCI CoE Ground 2. Both matches are scheduled to start at 9:30am IST. Here are further details.
EZone
East Zone secured semi-final spot with resounding victory
East Zone secured their place in the semi-finals after a resounding innings-and-210-run victory over North East Zone in the quarter-finals.
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed was instrumental in this win, scoring 167 runs and taking four wickets.
He was supported by Sudip Kumar Gharami, who scored 146 runs.
The duo helped East Zone post a mammoth total of 467 runs.
CZone
Patidar will lead Central Zone
Central Zone, led by Rajat Patidar, boasts a formidable squad with players like Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, and Saransh Jain.
The team will be looking to defend their title in this year's Duleep Trophy.
Saransh made his India debut in Colombo against Sri Lanka and will be gunning for success in the domestic circuit.
NZone
North Zone had a close affair in quarters
North Zone secured their place in the semi-finals after a close 52-run victory over West Zone.
The team, led by Kanhaiya Wadhawan, posted 251 runs in their first innings with Anshul Kamboj contributing a late-order 60.
Abid Mushtaq took five wickets in the first innings as his team took a 44-run lead.
In the second innings, Ayush Badoni hit 50, and Nishant Sindhu scored 44 to help North Zone secure their spot in the semi-finals.
The team has been further bolstered with the addition of pacer Gurnoor Brar.
SZone
South Zone have formidable line-up with several experienced players
South Zone, led by India T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma, boasts a strong squad with players like Smaran Ravichandran, Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal and Narayan Jagadeesan.
Having finished as runners-up last season, the team will be looking to make their mark in this year's Duleep Trophy.
Vidhwath Kaverappa would lead their pace-bowling unit.
Line-ups
Predicted XIs for semi-final 1
Central Zone Predicted XI: Aryan Juyal (wk), Yash Rathod, Kunal Singh Rathod, Rajat Patidar (c), Rinku Singh, Aman Mokhande, Zeeshan Ansari, Saransh Jain, Harsh Dubey, Arshad Khan, Yash Thakur.
East Zone Predicted XI: Ishan Kishan (c & wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Kumar Kushagra, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Virat Singh, Anukul Roy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Abhijit K Sarkar.
Line-ups
Predicted XIs for semi-final 2
South Zone Predicted XI: Shaik Rasheed, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Smaran Ravichandran, Karun Nair, Tilak Varma (c), Ricky Bhui, Aman Khan, Shreyas Gopal, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Tanay Thyagarajan, MD Nidheesh.
North Zone Predicted XI: Qamran Iqbal, Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni, Ayush Doseja, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (c& wk), Abdul Samad, Nishant Sindhu, Abid Mushtaq, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar.
Poll
