Duleep Trophy final 2023: Rahane’s West Zone defeats Hanuma Vihari’s South Zone by margin of 294 runs

Certainties in life include death, taxes, and West Zone winning the Duleep trophy. Congratulation to West Zone, commiseration to South Zone.

FINALS: As it happened

The West Zone team won the toss and elected to bat first. The two prominent batters, Rahane and Jaiswal, were sent back minutes into the game, with West Zone down by two wickets. They attempted to steady the ship, but wickets fell in pairs.

When they were 164-7, wicketkeeper-batsman Het Patel and bowler Jaydev stood tall. They demonstrated amazing tenacity in pursuing West Zone to a respectable score of 270. R. Sai Kishore’s incredible run of form continues with another 5-fer.

After Baba Indrajith’s incredible century under scoreboard pressure, Jaydev, the most experienced player in the playing XI, scooped up a 4-fer. South Zone finished with a 57-run lead thanks to a handful of 40s from the Karnataka guys.

Yashashwi chose to bat South Zone out of the game after his ton, scoring 265 in the finals. Middle order hitter Sarfararz, the ever-reliable domestic Donald Bradman produced yet another century in the final.

South Zone had a target of 528, and as any dimwit could have predicted, West Zone triumphed. With 19 cups under their belt, they became the team with the most Duleep trophies.

The only bright spot in the starless sky was opening batter Rohan Kunnummal, whose 90 wasn’t enough to see the day out. He finished second in this contest in terms of runs scored, but Jaiswal stole the show.

Ajinkya Rahane as Captain in First Class Cricket:-

He is something else, Captain Ajinkya. A fun fact about Rahane is that he has never lost a game as captain of a red-ball cricket team.

•Matches – 13

•Won – 6

•Lost – 0

•Drawn – 7

Ajinkya Rahane as Captain in international cricket

Matches- 6

Won- 4

Lost- 0

Drawn-2

Are we witnessing the (re)emergence of the forgotten prodigy Sarfaraz Khan?

Sarfaraz initially emerged on the scene in 2015 as an overweight teenager whacking some sixes lower down the order for RCB. We recall Virat bowing to him after he clobbered Rajasthan in a crucial eliminator. We haven’t seen much of him since then.

He’d make a rare appearance in the Indian Premier League, but he’s been a player on and off. Someone must have reminded him of his potential, for he appears to have laced up his boots and become a domestic superstar. With a century in both the Ranji Trophy and the Duleep Trophy finals, Sarfaraz’s prospects may come knocking as he is still a youngster. The viewers are overjoyed with this return.

The essence of domestic cricket.

After the game, Rahane insisted on concentrating on domestic cricket since the IPL would supply the necessary white ball players while domestic cricket would assist in providing red ball players. It was enlightening to see someone advising us to prioritize domestic cricket because it contains the majority of what we require.

Domestic events such as the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Irani Trophy, and Duleep Trophy require more viewers because they are played in their truest form. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, continues to be the team with the most Ranji trophy titles, living up to their moniker “The Powerhouse of Cricket.”

Prior to the advent of the IPL, players scouted for the national team were chosen based on their domestic performances. It is critical that we offer more opportunities to domestic players rather than a lower-order dasher who does not bowl in the IPL. It creates an opportunity for the highest level of play. Wasim Jaffer, for example, remains an icon.