The motivation to win a title will act as catalyst for the players of India-B and India-C when the two sides lock horns in the final of the Deodhar Trophy tournament at the JSCA Stadium here on Monday.
India-C impressed in its two outings by picking up eight points and would try to maintain its all-win record by giving another fine performance in the summit clash.
India-B, which lost to India-C in a match of only academic interest, will be keen to reverse the result when it matters the most.
Interestingly, India-C had defeated India-B in the final to claim the crown in the previous edition.
India-C would be pleased to know that the final would be played on the same pitch where it had put up the record-breaking total of 366 for three against India-A in the league stage.
It needs its openers, captain Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, to come good again and provide a solid start to repeat that feat.
Batting depth
The well-balanced India-C has got depth in its batting. When it stumbled to 126 for five against India-B, Axar Patel and Virat Singh joined hands to take the team to a competitive total.
The options in bowling give India-C some advantage. Pacers Ishan Porel, Dhawal Kulkarni and spinners Axar and Jalaj Saxena, who returned best-ever Deodhar figures of seven for 41 against India-A, and Mayank Markande are capable of applying the brakes on the opposition.
Good mix
The Parthiv Patel-led India ‘B’ — comprising a good mix of young and experienced batsmen such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Priyank Panchal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, B. Aparajith and Kedar Jadhav — is no less in batting and already has a 300-plus total to boast of. It just needs to rise to the occasion.
All-rounders Vijay Shankar and K. Gowtham and experienced bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Shahbaz Nadeem offer variety.
“Deodhar Trophy is one step higher than Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“Everyone wants to perform well here. It’s an important tournament, a historic one and we want to win this,” said Aparajith, the highest run-scorer in the tournament so far.
