Ranji Trophy: Delhi, Tamil Nadu in crucial clash:
NEW DELHI: About a decade ago, two excitingtalents -- Virender Sehwag and Lakshmipathy Balaji -- locked horns in a Ranji Trophysemifinal here at the Ferozeshah Kotla. The contest was marked with the pacy Balaji uprooting the flamboyant Sehwag's stumps on 99.
Ten years on, Sehwag, playing in his 100th Test against England in Mumbai, is making headlines. Balaji, on the other hand, is in the Capital as captain of Tamil Nadu for the Group B Ranji Trophy match against Delhi. The four-day game begins on Saturday.
With both teams sitting on eight points from three matches each and both in need to give their campaign real momentum, some aggressive cricket is in the offing. That's what both the camps are hinting at before the battle. The visitors have already shown a risk-taking propensity by declaring early against Karnataka and conceding three points in the process.
All eyes would be on the Kotla square to be used for the match. Two different surfaces have been used for the two Ranji games the ground has hosted this season and both were tediously low and slow. Going by what Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya says, the hosts now want a bouncier, faster track for this game. "We have told the curator to give a surface that would have more bounce and grass. Our pace attack is our strength and we would love to play on such a surface. With Balaji in their team, Tamil Nadu too have a good seam attack. But we need to exploit our strengths as well," Dahiya said.
It will be interesting to see if the home team risk a 'less than fully fit' Ashish Nehra who didn't take the field after bowling six overs against Baroda in the last game. He could be a handful if the pitch has grass on it. "It's up to Ashish to take a call. If he isn't 100%, he won't take the field," Dahiya said.
Coming to the visitors, even without Murali Vijay, Tamil Nadu batting happens to be one of the strongest in the country with the likes of Abhinav Mukund, Dinesh Karthik and S Badrinath already scoring heavily. There will be pressure on the Delhi batting line-up after some scratchy outings. It's time for Unmukt Chand to emulate his India under-19 teammate Baba Aparajith who has already notched up a century for Tamil Nadu.
Ten years on, Sehwag, playing in his 100th Test against England in Mumbai, is making headlines. Balaji, on the other hand, is in the Capital as captain of Tamil Nadu for the Group B Ranji Trophy match against Delhi. The four-day game begins on Saturday.
With both teams sitting on eight points from three matches each and both in need to give their campaign real momentum, some aggressive cricket is in the offing. That's what both the camps are hinting at before the battle. The visitors have already shown a risk-taking propensity by declaring early against Karnataka and conceding three points in the process.
All eyes would be on the Kotla square to be used for the match. Two different surfaces have been used for the two Ranji games the ground has hosted this season and both were tediously low and slow. Going by what Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya says, the hosts now want a bouncier, faster track for this game. "We have told the curator to give a surface that would have more bounce and grass. Our pace attack is our strength and we would love to play on such a surface. With Balaji in their team, Tamil Nadu too have a good seam attack. But we need to exploit our strengths as well," Dahiya said.
It will be interesting to see if the home team risk a 'less than fully fit' Ashish Nehra who didn't take the field after bowling six overs against Baroda in the last game. He could be a handful if the pitch has grass on it. "It's up to Ashish to take a call. If he isn't 100%, he won't take the field," Dahiya said.
Coming to the visitors, even without Murali Vijay, Tamil Nadu batting happens to be one of the strongest in the country with the likes of Abhinav Mukund, Dinesh Karthik and S Badrinath already scoring heavily. There will be pressure on the Delhi batting line-up after some scratchy outings. It's time for Unmukt Chand to emulate his India under-19 teammate Baba Aparajith who has already notched up a century for Tamil Nadu.
0 comments:
Post a Comment