Kaif’s first innings ton set the tone: Chawla

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Central Zone may not have won too many hearts after they played with an ultra defensive mindset to eke out a draw against South Zone during the Duleep Trophy semi-finals in Chennai this week. Nonetheless, the fact of the matter is that the former definitely played better cricket and deserves every inch of their final berth.

Central will now face East Zone in the summit clash which gets underway in Indore on February 12. Speaking after the semi-finals, Central Zone captain Piyush Chawla spoke on various topics including his maiden first-class captaincy and the Duleep Trophy final.

On the final against East Zone: Playing against East is going to be a good challenge. In their last two outings, they have registered an outright victory against West Zone and later defeated North for a place in the final. It shows that they have been playing some very good cricket recently. However, we have faith in our abilities and we are confident to go all the way.

On any specific game-plan for the final: As of now, we haven’t discussed anything. A lot will depend on how the wicket will behave. I have spoken to a few of my teammates and they have given me significant feedback about the Indore strip. Mostly, it (the square) gets flat as the match progresses. Bowlers might get assistance only till lunch.

On their show against South: We have done a commendable job. Our bowlers—especially the pacers—have done outstandingly well. Off-spinner Jalaj Saxena, too, had a great game here. Jalaj did well to remove Amit Verma of his very first delivery.

We knew Amit was a bit circumspect when it came to off-spin so I introduced Jalaj immediately. The move paid dividends. I am also delighted the way we batted. Everyone chipping in was the best part. Naman Ojha and Robin Bist did exceeding well to score centuries in our second essay.

On Central's delayed declaration: Well, we never needed eight points (for an outright win) to qualify for the final and we were aware of that. So there was no point in taking a chance. And, that too, in these conditions against a top-class batting line-up was always going to be tricky. I also wanted to keep my bowlers fresh for final. It has been a long season for them.

On his personal form: It’s nice to score two half centuries and contribute with the bat as well. As far as bowling is concerned, I hardly bowled in the first innings. One cannot make a judgement from those four overs I bowled. In the second innings, when Dinesh Karthik was going after my bowling, I took all my chances and even succeeded in taking his wicket.

On his captaincy: I have led the India U-19 and U-17 on a couple of occasions, so it wasn’t anything new for me. I have been enjoying leading the Central Zone. Ours is a cohesive unit and that’s the reason behind our success.

On the game’s turning point: Mohd. Kaif’s century in the first innings was the most crucial knock. He did not let his guard down even when wickets were tumbling briskly at the other end. Kaif and I then shared a very useful partnership which steadied the ship somewhat. Anything less than 250 here would have been a real struggle for us. So, Kaif’s performance was critical.