Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get a golden chance to improve upon his none too impressive First-Class numbers when East Zone take on the severely inexperienced North East Zone in the quarterfinal of the Duleep Trophy, starting at the Centre of Excellence here on Sunday.

The 15-year-old T20 sensation has only played 12 innings for Bihar in eight First-Class games with a top score of 93 and an average of 17 plus, which is nothing to write home about.

Sooryavanshi, by and large, remains an untested commodity in the red-ball arena, but the Duleep Trophy's whipping boys, North East, give him a chance to log some First-Class runs and gain confidence before East plays their semifinal against either Central or South Zone at the same venue from August 30.

While there are seasoned players like East skipper Ishan Kishan, seasoned pacer Mohammed Shami, former India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, India A regular Kumar Kushagra, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Mukesh Kumar in its ranks, Sooryavanshi, as usual, will be the focus of attention after the zonal selection committee appointed him vice-captain.

Against a North East attack that distinctly lacks quality, it will be about whether Sooryavanshi can be patient enough to butcher them, which he is well and truly capable of doing.

More of an India A audition

Duleep Trophy, which once used to be an important fixture for India aspirants, has turned out to be just another tournament in the BCCI calendar as most of the players selected aren't exactly in contention for a Test team berth.

A few years back, the BCCI had decided to scrap off the zonal system and had teams like India Red, Blue, Green, selected by the national selectors strictly picking those who have a future at the highest level.

But it has been done away with from the 2025-2026 season, and the Duleep Trophy is back to the old format which serves very little or no purpose in the larger context of Indian cricket.

Rather, just like the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy is also an audition platform for the India A hopefuls, who might be in contention for the two four-day 'Tests' against the visiting Australia A side in Puducherry during late September and early October.

The likes of Ayush Pandey and Aman Mokhade -- both from Central and will play directly in the semifinal -- who played the A series in Sri Lanka, will like to continue the good work while Sooryavanshi will get a minimum of two games in the North East and the semifinal, to show that he is also honing his skills in the toughest format.

A good score or two could mean that selectors could be tempted to think of playing him against Australia A.

Battle of equals

In the history of the North Zone, Jammu and Kashmir has always had a token representation, with Delhi dominating the discourse. But the Ranji Trophy triumph of 2025-2026 has changed the entire narrative as Kanhaiya Wadhawan becomes the first from the state to lead the senior zonal side, which has the maximum representation.

In the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led West Zone, they face a worthy opposition, which will certainly miss one of their main batters, Sarfaraz Khan, who is on national duty in Sri Lanka.

But with likes of Ranji final double centurion Qamran Iqbal, one of the top scorers, Ayush Doseja, the extremely lucky Yash Dhull, and the street smart Ayush Badoni on one side and Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Mumbai spin twins Tanush Kotian, and Shams Mulani on the other, the contest promises to be an exciting one. While Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi, two North Zone pacers, are in Sri Lanka with the senior team, at least one, if not two, could have been ideally released by the national selection committee, as Bengaluru to Colombo is a flight of less than two hours. If North loses to West, then both Nabi and Gurnoor will not get a chance to play another game since this is played in a knockout format.