TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsSouth Zone captain Mayank Agarwal and East Zone skipper Saurabh Tiwary are no strangers to the big occasion. While Mayank has led Karnataka with some punch, Tiwary’s Jharkhand have always punched above their weight, beating some tough oppositions at the Ranji Trophy level.
Expanding the pool for both South Zone and East Zone only makes them more formidable. South have made the best use of conditions thus far in the tournament, with their pace bowling unit - Vidwath Kaverappa, V Koushik and Vyshak Vijaykumar - throwing a strong punch up front. If not, the intelligent left-arm spin of Sai Kishore and the swift turn from Washington Sundar makes scoring runs extremely tough in the middle overs.
East, though, isn’t too far behind. The likes of Manishankar Mura Singh, Akash Deep and Mukhtar Hussain are coming on the back of a stellar performance against a strong West Zone batting unit, who were reduced to Smithereens in the do-or-die clash the other night.
If it isn’t the trio, the spin duo of Shahbaz Ahmed and Riyan Parag have bowled some nasty deliveries to keep the run rate under control. In all essence, this contest is perhaps the most fitting battle of equals - but owing to their form - South enter the Deodhar Trophy final as slight favourites.
What to watch out for?
Can Sai Sudharsan continue his stellar run?
Devdutt Padikkal’s injury has certainly paved the way for a certain Sai Sudharsan to enter the South Zone playing XI. Ever since that happened, South have found a bankable run-scorer and someone who plays spin extremely well. The conditions here at the Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) have been extremely spin-friendly, and the batters who have struggled against the tweakers have had a disappointing tournament.
In just two clashes, the left-hander has struck 185 runs and has held this South Zone middle-order together with his ability to rotate the strike, including scoring a century on a tricky wicket against Central Zone. But his major challenge, as was evident in the clash against East Zone earlier, could be pace. Akash Deep’s extra pace and bounce have caused trouble, and East would want to capitalise on that.
Time for Saurabh Tiwary to step up
Mayank Agarwal and Saurabh Tiwary have had contrasting fortunes as batters in the tournament. While Mayank has scored 278 runs, averaging 69.50, Tiwary has scored a total of 50 runs, with a high score of 16. In his own words, his team’s stellar run has masked up his bad patch with the bat. But the southpaw isn’t new to performing on big occasions, and East would do very well.
On the other hand, there was an injury scare for South when they lost their skipper Mayank during their final-round clash against Central Zone. Despite that, South breezed their way to the final and remain quite confident of the Karnataka man’s recovery ahead of the final.
Will law of averages catch up with South Zone?
“To be honest, we were also unbeaten in the ACC Emerging Asia Cup, but we lost the final. I don’t see anything as a challenge right now. They have a very good side, but when I played that last game, I knew I made a silly error. I was cautious not to repeat that last game and want to repeat it in the final. We are looking very sorted, I’m not being overconfident, but we can definitely win the title,” said Parag on the eve of the final.
South Zone are in a position very similar to India ‘A’ during the Emerging Asia Cup. They are unbeaten and, most importantly, look like the team to beat. But given their winning streak, will the law of average finally catch up with them?
Either way, the South would be hoping for the immaculate return of Sai Kishore and Vidwath Kaverappa in the final to make some crucial inroads.
Predicted XI and Team Combination
Barring any injuries, South Zone will field their strongest XI, which means a return for Kaverappa and Sai Kishore while the jury is still hung on Arun Karthick, who hasn’t made any impact in the series.
South Zone’s XI: Rohan Kunnummal, Mayank Agarwal (c), N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Arun Karthik, Washington Sundar, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Rohit Rayudu, Vasuki Koushik, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Vidhwath Kaverappa
East Zone have had their combination set in stone, with Utkarsh Singh returning to the setup against West Zone after his injury earlier. While there might be a debate on Subranshu Senapati’s place, expect East to go unchanged.
East Zone’s XI: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Virat Singh, Saurabh Tiwary (c), Utkarsh Singh, Riyan Parag, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Manisankar Murasingh, Rishav Das, Mukhtar Hussain, Akash Deep
(Image Courtesy: The Hindu)
