In absence of stars, it’s North’s bowling vs West’s batting

Despite the absence of big names, West Zone would enjoy a slight edge over North Zone in their four-day quarterfinal match of the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament starting Saturday.

North Zone's initial 15-member squad comprised Virender Sehwag, who was named the captain, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. But all of them are set to miss the opener for various reasons. While Sehwag is out with an ankle injury, Kohli and Yuvraj have opted to rest. Gambhir and Harbhajan are not available as they are leaving for South Africa to play in the Champions League Twenty20.

In the absence of big guns, North's batting will revolve around skipper Shikhar Dhawan. But with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Parwinder Awana, Harshal Patel and Vikas Mishra in its rank, North boasts of a formidable bowling attack. On the other hand, West, captained by Cheteshwar Pujara, is better served in the batting department and also has a decent bowling attack.

West would rely on Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Kaustubh Pawar (Mumbai), Bhushan Chava (Saurashtra), Ankit Bawne (Maharashtra) and wicket-keeper Smit Patel to deliver the goods in the batting department. Parthiv Patel has also been included in the team as the 16th member. On the bowling front, West will miss the services of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and all-rounders Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.

"We have a good team and our players are in good nick. Most of the players have figured in the Salve Trophy in Rajkot. So, I have high hopes from them," said West Zone coach Sulakshan Kulkarni. The match will be played on the newly-laid strip at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here 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 be interesting to see how this new wicket behaves in the next four days. Conditions are going to be the same for both the teams and it does not matter," he said. North skipper Shikhar Dhawan said both the teams are evenly poised despite the absence of five stalwarts in his side. "It is a 50-50 game since the outcome of the match will be decided on the first innings lead in case of a draw. We are not bothered about the wicket as we are expected to win matches on adverse conditions," Dhawan said. "We have good bowlers in our rank. Vikas Mishra and Harshal Patel have played in Rajkot and they are talented."

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