Open seasame!

Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra and Parthiv Patel in a three-way fight to stake claim for the opening slot

MUMBAI: A picture postcard from Australia isn’t something Wasim Jaffer would appreciate any time soon. Going into the Test series Down Under he was among the top run-scorers in the world; a double century against Pakistan at home pointing to the opener’s rich vein of form.

Three gruelling Tests and a month-and-a-half on Jaffer returned a pauper.
Nowadays, Jaffer will be well-advised to look over his shoulder. If Jaffer has cared to glance at Delhi opener Aakash Chopra’s score sheets this first class season, the Mumbai opener will find a reason to worry.

Down Under Jaffer managed just 49 runs in 176 balls in three Tests. Chopra has over 1,200 runs in first class games played in India. Jaffer, including his Test double hundred at Kolkata has 701 runs on Indian soil this season.

However, the battle within the battle between the two leading openers cannot only be revealed through cold numbers. Also there is Parthiv Patel who has scored over 1,000 runs this season.

When Chopra was picked to the India A squad for matches against South Africa, it was with an eye on the tour of Australia. However, Chopra missed the bus as Virender Sehwag, who wasn’t in the probables list got a ticket.

Out to prove a point, Chopra put to sword the bowlers on the domestic circuit while Jaffer slowly made his way back home.

With India set to play three Tests against South Africa next month, the debate over the top two slots order is not an open and shut case. The Duleep Trophy final between West Zone and North Zone will see Jaffer and Chopra go head-to-head.   

While Jaffer cannot be written off for having a poor series against the best side in the world, Chopra’s runs cannot be ignored time and again. Jaffer hit 151 against the England Lions in the second league match of the Duleep Trophy in Baroda last week. It hundred will definitely make him feel better. 

Chopra did better. He hit a double hundred against East Zone in Duleep Trophy and is coming into the final in great form.

The selectors also rate Parthiv Patel with high regard and with Dinesh Karthick not really making a mark in the longer format of the game in the recent past, the door is not completely shut on the Gujarat skipper.  

In the shadow of the seniors, there are some young guns like Saurashtra’s Cheteshwar Pujara, who was instrumental in helping his team reach the Ranji Trophy Super League semifinals and Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane who has had an impressive debut first class season. West Zone skipper Patel is confident of his team’s batting and his form.

“It was a good win (Ranji Trophy Plate final). It gave us lot of confidence. Personally, I feel scoring 600 in the Plate division also is not bad. I’m looking forward to the game.”

West Zone’s pace attack will be lead by Gujarat fast bowler Siddharth Trivedi and includes nippy Ashraf Makda and Saurashtra’s Sandeep Jobanputra, while the spin department will have the in-form Yusuf Pathan and Mohnish Parmar.

As far as North Zone is concerned, Mithun Manhas admitted that West’s batting is superior to theirs but his bowlers can more that make up for any deficiency in runs,” Manhas said.

Teams (from)
West Zone: Parthiv Patel (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Yusuf Pathan, Rakesh Dhruv, Sandeep Jobanputra, Siddharth Trivedi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rakesh Solanki, Mohnish Parmar, Ashraf Makda, Harshad Khadiwale, Samad Fallah.
North Zone: Mithun Manhas (captain), Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Karan Goel, Yashpal Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Uday Kaul, Amit Mishra, Vikramjeet S Malik, Ashok Thakur, Joginder Sharma, VRV Singh, Paras Dogra, Ravi Inder Singh, Chetanya Nanda, Samiullah Beigh.