Deodhar Trophy: Last chance for Cup hopefuls

MUMBAI: Amidst the cricket world still grieving over the tragic on-field death of Australian opener Phil Hughes and the on-going court room drama which threatens to expose the big stars and officials of the game in India, begins a domestic tournament which may still tell us about what exactly is good about the sport.
As this season's edition of the Deodhar Trophy begins from Saturday, with the quarterfinal between Central and South Zone at the Wankhede Stadium, cricket will hopefully be back in focus for performances with the bat and ball than anything else.With the World Cup now just a couple of months away, most of the players in action here would treat this as their final chance to impress the national selectors.A few of them are almost certain to be on the plane Down Under for the Tri-series and the Cup, but for a few others, this could be a lifeline. The Board's call to advance the One-day tourneys this season, thus, has come as a boon for World Cup hopefuls.
The primary focus should be on Yuvraj Singh. Three years after being the hero of India's World Cup triumph, the stylish left-hander finds himself on the sidelines, with little hope of playing in the big tournament again. Naturally, the 32-year old would be looking to blaze away here to remind the selectors about his exceptional ability. His North Zone teammate Harbhajan Singh is sailing in the same boat, though in the case of the offie, a comeback chance appears remote. Two of their teammates, Virender Sehwag Gautam Gambhir, though, were wise enough to withdraw from this tournament with the intention of letting a youngster make use of the opportunity.
The quarterfinal on Saturday would be a sort of `grudge' match considering that Central beat South in the Duleep Trophy final a few days back. North Zone would take on East in the first semifinal on Sunday, with defending champions West playing the winner of Saturday's match on Monday. The final would be day night affair on December 3. All the games would be held at the Wankhede, which was controversially deemed unfit to host the IPL final earlier this year.
Cricket apart, the shadow of the Hughes tragedy hung in the air on Friday as the Central and South Zone teams trained. "After hearing this, I was numb for two minutes. I didn't know how to react. Most of the cricketers are going through the same thing. Unfortunately, it happened but we need to move on, and think about cricket," said South Zone skipper and Karnataka seamer Vinay Kumar.
"It was tragic. Although it was an accident, our thoughts are with his family. Personally I won't think much about it while going in to bat. It is a big loss to Phil's family and to cricket as well," felt leg-spinner Chawla, who is leading the Central Zone team.