Aakash Chopra (right) makes a point to North Zone captain Mithun Manhas (left) and Gagandeep Singh at the Eden on Saturday, the eve of the Duleep Trophy final against Sri Lanka A. Telegraph pictures

Calcutta: Perhaps for the first time, a foreign side looks favourites to lift the Duleep Trophy. Sri Lanka A are pitted against North Zone in the title showdown at the Eden Gardens starting Sunday.

A foreign team has been participating in the tournament for the last four seasons but no side has looked as formidable as the Lankans are at the moment. There’s no doubt that North Zone will also not go down without a fight after missing out on the last two editions. The last time they emerged champions was in 2003-04.

Thilan Samraweera, a veteran of 40 Test matches, is in charge of the Lankan party that made the final beating South Zone by a slender three-wicket margin here. Quite naturally, the conditions will help the Sri Lankans chalk out their strategy much better than their opponents.

“The wicket is a good one and quite similar to that we played on in the last match,” captain Samaraweera said at the pre-match media conference. The captain looked pretty confident with his teammates.

On the other hand, the home side may have to change strategy a bit after Vikram Rajvir Singh failed to turn up because of fever. “VRV is not coming as he is down with fever,” informed Mithun Manhas, the North Zone captain. VRV had missed the previous game, against East, too.

Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir were also not present during the net session Saturday .

Both Gambhir and Nehra have been doing the good work for North Zone from the very beginning. Gambhir smashed fifties in all the three innings he played in the tournament with scores of 70 and 84 against Central Zone in Jamshedpur and 86 against East Zone in Guwahati in the last match. Nehra bagged six wickets in the three innings he bowled (he rolled his arms for only one over in the second innings against Central Zone).

Manhas & Co. are undecided about the combination they would go in with Sunday. “We haven’t decided anything yet,” Manhas stated.

The Sri Lankans have some injury problems with Upul Chandana (hamstring) and Malintha Warnapura (shoulder), but both are expected to be fine Sunday morning. “We are waiting and will make the final decision in the morning, but also have our replacements ready,” skipper stated.

Both the captains were happy after having a look at the wicket. “It’s not a one-day wicket or a two-day wicket, it will be the same for all the five days. Whoever plays better cricket will win,” was Samaraweera’s observation.

According to Samaraweera, they are not going by the myth that Eden wicket helps the seamers in the first session. “We opted to bowl against South Zone keeping in mind the initial help, but that didn’t happen and so in this match we will take the decision tomorrow morning itself,” he said.

Manhas’ observation was slightly different. “The wicket looks a good one with nice and hard bounce and it is expected that the spinners will get a bit of help too,” Manhas said.

The next five days will tell whether Sri Lanka A becomes the first foreign outfit to lift the title or North Zone takes it back after two seasons.

TEAMS

Sri Lanka A (from): Thilan Samaraweera (captain), Kaushal Silva (wicketkeeper), Jehan Mubarak, Michael Vandort, Mahela Udawatte, Malintha Warnapura, Chamara Silva, Upul Chandana, Rangana Herath, Akalanka Ganegama, Dhammika Prasad, Jeevan Mendis, Tharanga Lakshma, Ishara Amarasinghe, Kosala Kulasekara.

North Zone (from): Mithun Manhas (captain), Mahesh Rawat (wicketkeeper), Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Ravneet Ricky, Yashpal Singh, Joginder Sharma, Gagandeep Singh, Vishal Bhatia, Ashish Nehra, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Manvinder Bisla, Sachin Rana, Virat Kohli.

Umpires: AM Saheba (Gujarat) and Suresh Shastri (Mumbai). TV: Francis Gomes (Bengal).

Match Referee: Narayanankutty V (Kerala).

Match starts: 9 am.