Duleep Trophy 2023: Chennai Super Kings star bowler Tushar Deshpande has been added to the West Zone squad ahead of the semifinals of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2023. The move comes after Saurashtra's left-arm pace bowler Chetan Sakariya suffered an elbow injury and had to be dropped. West Zone are set to lock horns against Central Zone in the last four clash.
Deshpande was CSK's pick with the ball. After struggling in the initial matches, the right-arm pacer found mojo and scalped 21 wickets in the season from 16 games. He was CSK's leading wicket-taker and sixth-highest in the tournament. Meanwhile, Sakariya was part of Delhi Capitals in the recently concluded IPL.
Just like his side DC, the left-armer also had a modest outing. He played just 2 games in the season and scalped 3 wickets, going at 11.13 economy. A BCCI source opened on Sakariya's fitness. "He will need two to three weeks to recover," a BCCI source told PTI.
West Zone to face Central Zone in semis
Meanwhile, West Zone will be locking horns against Central Zone in the semifinals of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2023. While West Zone already made it to the semifinals with a win in the last edition, Central Zone qualified for the last four clash after a thumping win of 170 runs over East Zone in the 1st Quarterfinal. The match is scheduled to take place on July 5 in Alur.
In the other semifinal of the tournament, South Zone will face North Zone on same date July 5.
Cheteshwar Pujara, and Suryakumar in the West Zone squad
Notably, Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav are among the batters in the West Zone squad who will be itching to get some runs under their belt. Pujara has been dropped out from the Indian team, whereas Suryakumar also needs runs under his belt in the longer format.
