The first two rounds of the Duleep trophy held on the BCCI COE site on the outskirts of the city swing without much impulse. Played behind closed doors, in a Legacy tournament that struggles for relevance, the promotion was often flat-friendly fields.
Now set for the grand finale between South Zone and Central Zone, which starts here on Thursday, the absence of important players has taken the shine of what should have been a great opportunity.
Batters N. Jagadeesan and Devdutt Padikkal will be chosen this outing for South Zone for the India 'Team' A 'Team to use Australia' for the India 'A'.
Central zone will have to do without Pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Thakur, and all -rounder Harsh Dubey. Manav Suthar, who was not part of the eleven in the semi -final against West Zone, will also be gone on India 'A'.
South skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen will probably put on the Wicketkeeping gloves instead of Jagadeesan. Azharuddeen, who only made 11 in the high scoring semi -final against North Zone, stated that he was happy that Jagadeesan and Devdutt were rewarded for their consistency.
Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Thakur from Central Zone will leave the Central Zone team. | Photocredit: PTI
Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Thakur from Central Zone will leave the Central Zone team. | Photocredit: PTI
“I am really happy for them, because Jaggi (Jagadeesan) has done really well in the last two-three year,” said Azharudenen.
With the BCCI COE soil (1), which yields almost 2,300 runs in the two matches held a total of matches, another run party is on the cards. Saddle and achieve a huge score – this is the simple action plan.
“We play with seven batters. This is an advantage because Bengaluru pitches always benefit the batters. We want to keep it simple. Whether you first or second are right, we just want to achieve a huge score,” said Azharudden.
Published on September 10, 2025
