Rajat Patidar’s outstanding batting is complemented by his effective captaincy in domestic cricket. He continues to shine, now leading Central Zone to the Duleep Trophy final. The team is poised to compete against South Zone for the championship.
The Duleep Trophy semi-final matches ended in draws, setting the stage for the final. Central Zone and North Zone advanced to the semi-finals based on their first-innings performances in the quarter-finals in Bengaluru. In the semi-final, Central Zone faced West Zone, the previous season’s champions. West Zone was without their former captain, Ajinkya Rahane. Shardul Thakur took over the captaincy, and the team included prominent players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer.
Despite facing a strong West Zone side, Central Zone demonstrated their strength with both batting and bowling. They restricted West Zone to 438 runs in the first innings. Central Zone, led by Patidar, then scored 600 runs in their first innings. While no individual batsman scored a century, six players achieved half-centuries, with five exceeding 75 runs. Captain Patidar scored 77 runs, and Shubham Sharma made the top score with 96 runs.
This impressive performance guaranteed Central Zone’s place in the final, due to their substantial 162-run lead after the first innings. In the second innings, West Zone struggled, scoring only 216 runs for the loss of 8 wickets before the match ended in a draw. Saransh Jain, the off-spinner, was a crucial player for Central, taking 3 wickets in the first innings and 5 in the second, in addition to an unbeaten 63 runs.
In the other semi-final, South Zone defeated North Zone to secure a spot in the final. This match also ended in a draw. South Zone advanced to the final with a significant 175-run lead from the first innings. Narayan Jagadeesan, the opening batsman, played a vital role for South, scoring 197 runs in the first innings and helping South to score 536 runs. The pace bowling of Gurjapneet Singh and Mohammed Nidhish then restricted North to 361 runs. In the second innings, South scored 95 runs for the loss of 1 wicket when the match ended, with Jagadeesan adding another half-century.