India’s first domestic tournament for the 2023-24 season, the Duleep Trophy, has come to an end with South Zone winning the Final against West Zone by 75 runs. Here’s a report card of how India hopefuls fared in the tournament.
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A Hanuma Vihari-led South Zone side beat Priyank Panchal-led West Zone in the Final of the 2023 Duleep Trophy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on July 16 by 75 runs.
South Zone had previously beaten North Zone in the semi-final, while West Zone reached the final by beating Central Zone. East and North East Zones, on the other hand, were eliminated at the quarter-finals stage.
Here’s a round-up of how those on India national selection radar performed in the tournament.
Mayank Agarwal (South Zone)
Mayank was the third-highest scorer in what was a low-scoring tournament, with 193 runs from four innings at an average of 48.25, including two half-centuries. Both those half-centuries came in the semi-final against North Zone. He also made important contributions in the Final, scoring 28 and 35 in the first and second innings respectively.
Cheteshwar Pujara (West Zone)
Pujara had a mixed bag of a tournament, scoring a crucial hundred in the semi-final against Central Zone and registering three failures on either side of that. He scored a total of 185 runs from four innings at an average of 46.25, out of which 133 came in one knock.
Hanuma Vihari (South Zone)
Leading the South Zone side, Vihari got off to the worst possible start as he registered a duck in the first innings of the semi-final against North Zone. He came back well from that, with his next three scores being 43, 63, and 42. He was the highest scorer for South Zone in either innings in the final, leading their title charge from the front.
Priyank Panchal (West Zone)
Repeatedly ignored for selection in the India Test team, Panchal was given the job of leading the defending champions, West Zone. Having not had much of an impact in his first three innings, Panchal turned up in the run-chase in the Final as he stood tall at one end. When he was dismissed for 95, West Zone’s hopes went along with him.
Rinku Singh (Central Zone)
Rinku scored 132 runs from four innings at an average of 33. Although he never crossed 50 in the tournament, he made important contributions in an otherwise failing Central Zone batting lineup, including a 30-ball 40 in the fourth innings of the semi-final against West Zone.
Prithvi Shaw (West Zone)
Shaw gave quick starts in almost every innings, like he usually does, but only managed to score a single fifty – a 65 off 101 balls in the first innings of the Final against South Zone. He finished with 123 runs in the tournament at an average of 30.75.
Tilak Varma (South Zone)
Tilak moved around in the batting order for South Zone. In the semi-final against North Zone, he batted at No.6 and scored a 101-ball 46 in the first innings and a 19-ball 25 in the second. In the Final, he was moved up to No.3, where he scored 40 in the first innings and had a rare failure in the second, scoring just three. Overall, he finished with 114 runs at an average of 28.50.
Suryakumar Yadav (West Zone)
Yadav had a poor outing in the tournament, scoring only 71 runs from four innings at an average of 17.75. While his runs came at a quick pace – a strike rate of 88.75, he managed a substantial score only once, a 58-ball 52 in the second innings of the semi-final where he stitched together a 95-run partnership with Pujara.
Sarfaraz Khan (West Zone)
Sarfaraz’s non-selection in the Test squad for the West Indies tour was surprising, but he didn’t help his cause in the Duleep Trophy. He managed just 54 runs from four innings, out of which 48 came in the fourth innings of the Final.
Atit Sheth (West Zone)
Sheth made his India A debut last year and has been on the radar of the Indian selectors given his all-round abilities. He had a good start to the 2023-24 domestic season, scoring 104 runs, including a match-winning 74 in the semi-final against Central Zone. To go with that, he also took seven wickets at an average of 20.57.
Saurabh Kumar (Central Zone)
The left-arm spinner was the highest-wicket taker in the tournament with 16 wickets from four innings at an average of 16.12 and a wicket every 32.37 balls. His best came in the quarter-final against East Zone where he picked 8-64 in the fourth innings, his best first-class figures till date.
Arzan Nagwaswalla (West Zone)
The left-arm seamer who has been around the India Test setup as a net bowler and has been a regular part of India A sides in the last few years finished the 2023 Duleep Trophy as the third-highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets from four innings at an average of 22.50.
Jayant Yadav (North Zone)
Yadav led the North Zone side and picked up six wickets from four innings at an average of 23.50. While he isn’t actively around the India setup at the moment, he is the backup off-spinner India generally turn to if Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar aren’t available in Test cricket.
Avesh Khan (Central Zone)
Avesh didn’t have the sort of impact he would have liked to have in the 2023 Duleep Trophy. He took just five wickets across four innings at an average of 27.40, which included a 3-34 in the first innings of the quarter-final.
Ishan Porel (East Zone)
Porel claimed four wickets in the quarter-final against Central Zone, the only match he played in the Duleep Trophy. He was mighty impressive in that game, keeping things tight as can be gauged by his average of 7.75 and economy rate of 1.47.
Washington Sundar (South Zone)
Sundar didn’t have a great tournament with either bat or ball. He scored just 73 runs from four innings at an average of 24.33 and took just one wicket at an average of 67.
