Duleep Trophy final: Plethora of batting stars set to shine in West vs South title battle

West Zone’s leading batsmen (left to right) Cheteshwar Pujara, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan

The Indian Test team is in the Caribbean. An U-23 team in the guise of India ‘A' has landed in Colombo for the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Yet, a plethora of batting stars will line up to do battle in the final of the season's first domestic competition - Duleep Trophy.

In a repeat of last year's title clash, defending champions West Zone take on hosts South in the five-day game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium from Wednesday, Priyank Panchal's men confident they have the batting resources to pull off an encore. South, under Hanuma Vihari, might not boast the same on-paper batting wealth, but they have an excellent pace attack marshalled by local lads Vidwath Kaverappa and Vyshak Vijaykumar, both coming off five-wicket hauls in the thrilling semi-final win over North. This should be a cracking contest.

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It was at the Chinnaswamy that Cheteshwar Pujara, arguably the one most in focus currently, announced his arrival in international cricket with a sparkling fourth-innings 72 on being pushed up to No. 3 in 2010 against Australia. The Saurashtra veteran has since enjoyed batting here and will relish the chance to bed in while trying to prove to the national selectors that he still has plenty to offer in Tests.

Pujara headlines an absolute star cast - Prithvi Shaw, Panchal, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan and Kedar Jadhav, drafted in after Yuvrajsinh Dodiya was picked for India ‘A'. South have the names too. Vihari has a point to prove after being overlooked for international duty for more than a year now, and Mayank Agarwal is determined to build on a season-high 990 runs in last year's Ranji Trophy. Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar add depth and though South have lost two players - Sai Sudharsan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul - to India ‘A', they are none the worse for it.

It may boil down to who is more incisive and disciplined with the ball. With a bit of weather around, Vihari can cash in on the familiarity with the conditions of his new-ball pairing, as well as that of Agarwal and R Samarth, who should open the batting.

"They understand the conditions well, they've helped in reading the conditions. In the semi-final, there wasn't much grass, but there was dampness under the wicket, so they told me it won't turn much later, better to bowl first. This input is very valuable, especially from Mayank and Samarth, who have played a lot of cricket," acknowledged Vihari.