3 fast bowlers Team India should fast-track from the Duleep Trophy 2023
The recently concluded Duleep Trophy, which was played between domestic teams representing the various geographical zones of India, threw up excellent performances with both bat and ball. South Zone, led by former Hyderabad and Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari, defeated West Zone by 75 runs in the final to clinch their 14th title.
This is most probably Vihari's last assignment with the South Zone side, given that he is moving to Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming season. He will be extremely proud of the way his team handled the pressure and thumped a much-vaunted West Zone side.
West Zone had a lot of big names in their team, including Priyank Panchal, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sarfaraz Khan and Suryakumar Yadav. But the South Zone bowlers rose to the occasion and guided their side to an improbable victory.
The tournament was played across a couple of venues in Bengaluru, and the temperate weather of the city at this time of the year assisted seam bowling a lot. With a bit of rain in the air bringing with it some moisture on the pitches, it was unsurprising to see fast bowlers succeed. You know where this is going...
In this listicle, we take a look at three seamers who impressed tremendously in this edition of the Duleep Trophy and can be fast-tracked into the Indian Test side.
#3. Shivam Mavi
The Uttar Pradesh seamer, who turned up for Central Zone in this competition, is known for his express pace. Shivam Mavi has been capped by India in Twenty20 Internationals already, having made his debut against Sri Lanka in January earlier this year. His performances in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy suggest that he can be pushed towards the longer format of the game too.
Mavi's standout performance was the 6-44 he took against a star-studded West Zone side in the semifinal. He was responsible for hurrying the batters with his pace, and his prized scalps included the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan and Cheteshwar Pujara.
This showing will give Mavi a lot of confidence, and even if he isn't picked for Tests soon, he can build on it in the upcoming domestic season.
#2. Arzan Nagwaswalla
Surat-born Nagwaswalla, who has been called up by India as a net bowler in the past, was single-handedly responsible for wrecking the Central Zone batting unit in their semifinal clash in Alur.
Central Zone admittedly did not have the strongest batting lineup, but Nagwaswalla beat the bat on more than one occasion and swung the ball back in extremely well. His ability to extract whatever juice there was on the pitch was commendable. Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel and Upendra Singh were some of his victims in that innings.
Nagwaswalla followed it up with a wicket in the second innings as well. In the final a few days later, the Gujarat seamer picked up a couple of wickets in each innings but could not prevent his team from being walloped by eventual winners South Zone.
Nagwaswalla, being a left-arm seamer, has an excellent chance of being fast-tracked by India into the Test side owing to the variety he offers.
#1. Vidwath Kaverappa
Karnataka's Vidwath Kaverappa was perhaps the biggest revelation of the recently concluded Duleep Trophy owing to his stellar showing with the ball in hand. The lanky medium pacer, who is known to swing the ball both ways, was one of the key architects of South Zone's title win.
Kaverappa picked up two five-wicket hauls in four innings, including a game-changing 7-53 in the first innings of the final against West Zone at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He had an excellent domestic season as well, picking up 30 wickets in eight matches in the Ranji Trophy and playing a crucial role as his state marched into the semi-final. They lost to eventual champions Saurashtra.
Kaverappa has excellent control over the ball and is known to be adept at both seam and swing. Although he is only 12 first-class matches old, the young fast bowler is an excellent prospect and deserves to have a taste of a higher grade of cricket. Sending him on A tours might be the right thing to do before blooding him directly into the senior team.