West Zone skipper Jaffer and East coach Chatterjee involved in a duel on the eve of their Duleep semi-final

IN some bravado that could cost his team dear at the Duleep Trophy semi-final today, East Zone coach Utpal Chatterjee said his boys fancied their chances against the West Zone bowling attack, while the opponents' batsmen could prove too strong.

With the West Zone batsmen having piled on the runs earlier in the season, his estimation on that count could be accurate but he would do well to peruse some bowling statistics from West Zone too. After all, it's not without reason the best bowler award on India's domestic circuit was picked up by debutant Dhawal Kulkarni, another West Zone star.

"We are hoping to manipulate West Zone's bowling attack," Chatterjee, the former India slow left-armer, told MiD DAY on the eve of the match.

"They have too strong a batting line-up and we feel their bowling is one department which can be exploited."u00a0

Mention Chatterjee's gameplan to West Zone skipper Wasim Jaffer and the response comes in a jiffy.

Laden with statistics of his bowling department, Jaffer said: "We have Dhawal (Kulkarni) who has 42 wickets, Siddharth Trivedi has taken 34 wickets. Ajit (Agarkar) is in good shape. And so is Ramesh (Powar). On the basis of form, I have no reason to worry.

"Also, the wicket at CCI has played truly and consistently. So, that's an added bonus. Having said that though, lots depends on how the bowlers perform on a particular day. They just have to bowl to their potential."

Meanwhile, Kulkarni, elated after being named the best domestic bowler at the CEAT Awards function on Tuesday, agreed with his skipper.

"True, I have performed well this season but tomorrow is a different day. I will have to go out there and bowlu2026 bowl to the best of my abilities and that's that. There's no substitute for performance and hard work.

"Of course, getting an award of such a magnitude hours before such a crucial fixture is extremely satisfying and morale-boosting. So yeah, I am confident but eventually it all boils down to performance," Kulkarni said.

Sure Chatterjee and Co hope to "manipulate" the West Zone bowling attack. But going by their body language and current form, Chatterjee's gameplan is in serious threat of a boomerang.