MUMBAI, Sept. 1 -- Duleep Trophy is meant to be the stage for India's best players, but after a gruelling five-Test series in England, it has been rest-and-recovery for the top players before the T20 Asia Cup. Test captain Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, named in the North and Central Zone, also opted out late citing illness. The two first-round matches of the inter-zonal tournament thus proved low-key affairs. The national selectors were present at the Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru but didn't get to see the expected level of performances. North Zone pacer Aquib Nabi was the only one to draw serious attention with four wickets in four balls. Among the India players, only East Zone's Mohammed Shami showed he is in a condition to bowl long spells if needed in the long format. North's game against East proved one-sided after East pacer Mukesh Kumar picked up a thigh injury while the strong Central were made to work hard by inexperienced North East. Better quality is expected in the semis, starting on September 4, with Central facing West and North playing South. Among the pacers, the Asia Cup-bound Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana played for North and Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar for Central. However, the focus was on Shami. The Bengal bowler missed the last two big series, against Australia and England, due to doubts over his match fitness. He hasn't played a Test since the 2023 World Test Championship final. Shami made a case for his recall, bowling 23 overs in the first innings against North. In the second, he bowled just 11 overs. East skipper Riyan Parag said: "He (Shami) rolled over on his toe and the other spike went over his toe. That's why he couldn't bowl." With no Mukesh or Shami on Sunday, the final day, the game petered into a farce with North opting to bat all day, finishing on 658/4 for a massive 833-run lead. Ayush Badoni (204*) smashed his second first-class double century while captain Ankit Kumar (198) just missed out his double. North East were supposed to be easy meat for Central Zone but the Rajat Patidar-led side were unable to complete an outright win after amassing 532/4 declared in the first innings. After scoring 185 in the first innings, North East held on to draw after scoring 200/6....