North Zone's initial 15-member squad comprised stars in the form of Virender Sehwag, who was named the captain, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. But all of them will miss tomorrow's game for varied reasons.
While Sehwag is out with an ankle injury, Kohli and Yuvraj have opted to rest, and Gambhir and Harbhajan are not available as they are leaving for South Africa to play in the Champions League Twenty20.
Going by the history of the tournament, North and West Zone have been the most successful teams with 17 wins each, one shared by North and three by the West.
In the absence of big guns, North's batting will revolve around skipper Shikhar Dhawan.
But with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Parwinder Awana, Harshal Patel and Vikas Mishra up its rank, North boasts of a formidable bowling attack.
On the other hand, West, captained by Cheteshwar Pujara, is better served in batting department and also has a decent bowling attack.
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West would rely on Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Kaustubh Pawar (Mumbai), Bhushan Chavan (Saurashtra), Ankit Bawne (Maharashtra) and wicket-keeper Smit Patel to deliver the goods in the batting department.
Parthiv Patel's inclusion in the team as the 16th member would further boost West's chances.
But on the bowling front, West will miss the services of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and spin duo of Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja.
Going into the match, West Zone coach Sulakshan Kulkarni was confident of his wards good showing tomorrow.
"We have a good team and our players are in good nick. Most of the players have figured in the Salve Trophy in Rajkot. So, I have high hopes from them," he said. MORE