After three wins within the first three matches of the Deodhar Trophy, South Zone finds itself on prime of the desk, tied on factors with East Zone with a greater web run charge. While South’s bowling assault has been the important thing to their success, the batting effort has been led by openers skipper Mayank Agarwal and his deputy Rohan Kunnummal.
While Agarwal is a confirmed performer, having performed for the nation, Kunnummal was the aggressor within the two matches towards North and North East, scoring fast half-centuries and giving the innings momentum at the beginning.
“It’s been good so far, and I am getting into a good rhythm. It feels so nice to win matches for my team,” stated Kunnummal, taking part in his first match in six months.
The Kerala opener had a breakthrough season in 2021-22 within the Ranji Trophy with three centuries. He then bought a century in Duleep Trophy final 12 months, making it 4 consecutive First-Class tons and was a part of the India A tour to Bangladesh.
However, after a promising begin within the Vijay Hazare final 12 months, the place he scored two centuries and completed as the best run-scorer for Kerala, he had a troublesome season. He had a poor stint within the Ranji Trophy, the place he missed two matches as a result of an sickness, scoring only one fifty in 5 video games and didn’t get picked for the IPL both.
READ: Deodhar Trophy: Bowlers, Kunnummal assist South Zone to straightforward win towards North East
“Last year, I often had fevers and became incredibly tired, which meant I could not recover quickly,” stated the 25-year-old. “I was a bit disappointed (not getting into IPL) because I was expecting it,” he added.
The snub additionally prompted him to re-orient his strategy for the upcoming season. “Every year, I used to set targets, and last year it was to do well in Muhstaq Ali and get into the IPL. But now, I do not want to think too far ahead. Sometimes, you have to accept you won’t get runs every season, but we must have the same work ethic.”
Explaining the areas he targeted on through the lengthy low season, Kunnummal stated, “I worked a lot on my fitness. KCA has good facilities where I can do my skills training. So I focused on my balance. I need to be still while hitting, which I have worked hard on and has come off well in this tournament.”
Sai Sudharsan in for Padikkal
Meanwhile, TN batter B. Sai Sudharsan will exchange Devdutt Padikkal within the South Zone squad after the latter injured his finger through the match towards North East. The 21-year-old TN batter had a very good outing for India A within the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this month. He scored a century towards Pakistan A and completed because the third-highest run-getter for the group.
Sunday’s fixtures: East Zone vs South Zone, CAP Ground 2; Central Zone vs North East Zone, CAP Ground 3, (each 9 a.m.); *North Zone vs West Zone, Siechem Stadium, 1.30 p.m. *reside on www.bcci.television
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com