Shivam Mavi will make his First-Class captaincy debut with Central Zone during the season-opening Duleep Trophy 2023–24 quarterfinal against East Zone at the Alur (I) Cricket Ground in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Mavi featured in just four First-Class matches in the 2022–23 season and has not played any competitive game since the week of his India T20I debut in late January. Mavi, however, did shine with 19 wickets in the limited Ranji Trophy matches he played for Uttar Pradesh last season.
Mavi will find support from his deputy Upendra Yadav, who took over as Railways’ red-ball captain last year. While Yadav is likely to take the wicketkeeping gloves, the Central Zone squad also comprises three other wicketkeepers: Himanshu Mantri, Akshay Wadkar, and Dhruv Jurel.
Mantri could pair up with Vivek Singh up top, while Shubham Sharma, Wadkar, and the high-flying Rinku Singh will firm up the middle-order.
Left-armers Saurabh Kumar, Manav Suthar, and off-spinner Saransh Jain round up the spin department. The 20-year-old Suthar had a breakout red-ball season in the preceding Ranji Trophy, having picked up 39 wickets from just six matches for Rajasthan, besides handy lower-order contributions with the bat. Avesh Khan and Yash Thakur will be Mavi’s allies in pace.
Meanwhile, the spotlight will be on East Zone skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has slid down the ladder of India’s potential openers in the Test side.
The 27-year-old will aim to continue his purple patch from the 2022–23 season, where he hit four consecutive First-Class hundreds for India A and Bengal before striking a season-ending 154 in the Irani Cup in March.
Easwaran will lead a familiar pack; six of his 14 East Zone teammates are from Bengal. While the slower bowlers tend to make merry at the venue, East Zone hosts a sturdy spin attack on paper.
Veteran Shahbaz Nadeem will lead the charge with fellow left-armers Shahbaz Ahmed and Anukul Roy. Akash Deep will lead the seam department on his elevation to the zonal squad after a fruitful Ranji season, where he emerged as the leading wicket-taker (41) among pacers.
The team will, however, miss the services of Mukesh Kumar, who was recently drafted into India’s squad for its tour to the West Indies next month. Odisha’s Suryakant Pradhan has replaced Mukesh in the team.
With evening showers forecast throughout the week, the teams will hope to brace for an impulsive test of smarts in the pleasant Bengaluru weather.
Live Streaming Info & Telecast Details
Where can you watch Duleep Trophy 2023?
As of now, Duleep Trophy 2023 is not being shown live or live-streamed in India. You can follow all the latest updates on Sportstar’s live blogs.
Comments
SHARE