Duleep Trophy 2026: North Zone vs West Zone, 2nd Quarter-Final Match Preview

A strong West Zone side locks horns with a talented North Zone unit at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in the second quarter-final of the Duleep Trophy 2026, commencing on Sunday, August 23.

Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading the West Zone side, who have some formidable batters in Prithvi Shaw, Musheer Khan, and Urvil Patel, among others. The bowling attack also looks solid, with Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, and Mukesh Choudhary being in the ranks. Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani are expected to lead the spin department.

On the other hand, North Zone have named Kanhaiya Wadhawan as their skipper. Keep an eye on Yash Dhull and Ayush Badoni, who have been in great form of late in red-ball cricket. The latter also contributed wonderfully with the ball last season in the Ranji Trophy.

The seam-bowling department is spearheaded by Arshdeep Singh and he has Anshul Kamboj and Yudhvir Singh for company. However, they will be missing the services of Auqib Nabi, who is on national duty.

Th average first-innings score at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Indian first-class cricket is 348. The captain who wins the toss would want to bat first as the pitch could crumble as the game goes on. Spinners could make significant impact, especially as the game goes on.

Yash Dhull, Ayush Doseja, Sanat Sangwan, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (C & WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Abdul Samad, Anshul Kamboj, AP Sharma, Yudhvir Singh, Arshdeep Singh.

Harvik Desai (WK), Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Musheer Khan, Shams Mulani, Urvil Patel, Atit Sheth, Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary.