The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : West Zone faces Central Zone

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West Zone faces Central Zone

Special Correspondent

RAJKOT: The intensity of first-class cricket moves to the next level as Ranji Trophy performers jostle for places on the zonal squads in Duleep Trophy.

The presence of National selectors for the four-day competition between West Zone and Central Zone at the Madhavrao Scindia Stadium will see Munaf Patel’s recovery and form assessed in a match situation.

West faces a problem choosing the playing XI due to multiple options in batting and bowling available and Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel has been entrusted with the leadership responsibility.

He is knocking on the selectors doors with forceful batting and slick wicket-keeping in the Ranji Trophy, so the Duleep Trophy is one more stage to display ability in front and behind the wickets and stake claim. Parthiv sees the situation differently, saying performing is his priority, not whether he will be able to convince the selectors.

Murali Kartik, the Indian Railways captain in the Ranji Plate final, will have his work cut out due to the presence of attacking batsmen Parthiv, Yusuf Pathan, Niraj Patel and Cheteshwar Pujara in the West line-up. The left-arm spinner is part of a talented Central squad, dominated by players from Railways and U.P.

The teams: West Zone (from): Parthiv Patel (capt.), Siddharth Trivedi, Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Niraj Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yusuf Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Rakesh Solanki, Rakesh Dhruv, Munaf Patel, Sandeep Jobanputra, Samad Fallah, Harshad Khadiwale, Pinal Shah. Coach: Pravin Amre.

Central Zone: Mohd. Kaif (capt.), Sanjay Bangar, Sandeep Singh, Vinit Saxena, Harshad Rawle, Tanmay Srivastava, Rohit Bisht, Mahesh Rawat, Murali Kartik, Sanjib Sanyal, Praveen Gupta, Sudeep Tyagi, Sumit Mathur, Jalaj Saxena.

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