New Delhi: Delhi team management's lack of communication with the establishment again came into the fore today when Feroze Shah Kotla curator Venkat Sundaram accused skipper Gautam Gambhir of "interfering into his job" ahead of their Ranji Trophy final group league encounter against Karnataka tomorrow.
Having played three of their home matches on a seaming Roshanara track, Delhi team had been forced to play their final game at the Kotla -- a ground which is not to their liking as they feel the wicket does not produce results.
Gambhir and Co. had relented because Roshanara, being a private club, will not be available from December 30 due to its own 'New Year Bash' on the ground.
With 19 points from seven matches, Delhi are aiming for seven points for which Gambhir apparently wanted a rank-turner which will produce results against Karnataka who are already through to the knock-out stage with 32 points.
On the eve of the match, BCCI's chief curator Daljit Singh, Sundaram and DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan were seen to be having a discussion at the centre strip at the Kotla.
"We are doing some corrections as per chief curator's insistence. The loose grass is being removed and we are using light roller with some sprinkling of water. We will be going with two spinners," Chauhan, who is also chairman of selectors, said.
Former Delhi opener Sundaram has had his differences with the Delhi team over the past years but things have now turned from bad to worse with his differences with Gambhir coming out in the open.
"If you have to fiddle with pitches so much then you are not fit for playing Test cricket," fumed Sundaram, referring to Gambhir's repeated insistence on getting the grass shaved off to make it a turner," Sundaram said.
"I had got three pitches ready with one on which we had grown grass. They (Delhi team management) got the grass shaved off and now they are not playing on that track. Instead, they have chosen the centre wicket. We have made it match ready," Sundaram added.
Sundaram's frustrations have increased as he said that he has not received any salary from the DDCA since September 2011.
Asked if he has spoken to Chauhan in this regard, Sundaram said, "He is also helpless as the cricketers are pressurizing him too much for the pitch of their choice".
A senior member of the Delhi team management spoke about not getting a pitch of their choice.
"We have learnt all our cricket playing at the Kotla but why do you think that we need to go to Roshanara these days. Doesn't it speak about the incompetence of the curator?" the senior member questioned.
Asked about the track, he said, "It's a result-oriented one".
Left-arm spin duo of Manan Sharma and Varun Sood are supposed to play alongside pacers Ashish Nehra, Sumit Narwal.
Mithun Manhas and Virender Sehwag will be expected to bowl off-breaks while rookie Javed Khan might have to wait for his first-class debut. In batting, the choice for No 3 will be between left-hander Vaibhav Rawal and talented right-hander Milind Kumar.
For Karnataka, seasoned opener Robin Uthappa has not come due to injury and the batting responsibility will have to be shouldered by youngsters like Lokesh Rahul, Kunal Kapoor, Mayank Agarwal.
Saurashtra needs win against Services, and then some
Saurashtra need win against Services, and then some
Rajkot: After a defeat at the hands of Baroda in the last match, Saurashtra need a victory against Services in their final group B match starting here tomorrow, to secure a quarter-final place in the Ranji Trophy.
Saurashtra have earned 16 points from seven matches so far, and even if they win against Services, they depend on the outcomes of Baroda - Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - Bengal ties.
Baroda have 20 points while Tamil Nadu and Bengal have 18 points each.
"We had a bad game against Baroda, but still we have not given up our hopes to enter into quarterfinals," Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah said.
"We played some good cricket this season but one bad game against Baroda has shattered hopes," Shah said, adding that the hosts would like to finish the season on a positive note by winning the last league match.
Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Sagar Jogiyani and Jaydev Shah would carry batting responsibility while Jaydev Unadkat would spearhead bowling in the company of Abhishek Bhatt, Kamlesh Makwana, Dharmendra Jadeja and Vishal Joshi for the hosts.
Services have nothing to lose as they are at bottom of the points table at six points.
Pratik Desai, captain Soumik Chatterjee, Nakul Verma, Rajat Paliwal and Yashpal Singh would shoulder batting responsibility while Suraj Yadav, Irfan Khan, Koteshwar Rao and R Kanojia are the bowlers for the Services.
Teams (from):
Saurashtra: Jaydev Shah (Capt), Jaydev Unadkat (VC), Sagar Jogiyani, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Rahul Dave, Kamlesh Makwana, Nayan Doshi, Dharmendra Jadeja, Abhishek Bhatt, Chirag Pathak, Saurya Sanandiya, Vishal Joshi, Prithvipal Sinh Solanki and Harsh Anghan.
Services: Soumik Chatterjee (Capt), Pratik Desai, Anshul Gupta, Yashpal Singh, S R Swain, Rajat Paliwal, Sarabjeet Singh, Suraj Yadav, Shadab Naar, Nakul Verma, Nishan Singh, Koteshwar Rao, R Kanojia, Irfan Khan and Vishnu Tiwari.
Do or die match for Goa against Andhra
Do or die match for Goa against Andhra
Porvorim (Goa): It will be a do or die battle for Goa when they take on lowly-placed Andhra Pradesh in their last Ranji Trophy Group C league match here tomorrow. Goa, who pulled up a hard fought three-wicket win over Kerala to stay in contention for the knock-out stage, are placed fourth with 22 points from 7 matches. They need not only an outright win against Andhra but also have to hope that Jammu and Kashmir, who are placed second with 25 points, should not take first innings lead or win against Tripura.
Goa have deep batting line-up and will once again depend on their top order batsman Amogh Dessai, Swapnil Asnodkar, Sagun Kamat and Rohit Asnodkar to live up to the challenge. All rounder Shadab Jakati, who has shone both with the bat and ball, was instrumental in their win against Kerala and will lead the attack along with Amit Yadav and Harshad Gadekar, who also can chip in useful runs to live up to Goa's expectation.
Goa's success will mainly depend on their medium pacers who have not lived up to the expectations and if they can get early wickets, they stand a good chance to win tomorrow. Andhra, who are placed second from the bottom, have 14 points from six matches and are out of contention for the knock-out stage.
They are looking to upset the home team apple cart of qualifying for the next stage. So, the pressure is on the home team to perform if they are to make it to the next stage.
Upbeat Bengal meets hosts Tamil Nadu in do-or-die contest
Upbeat Bengal meets hosts Tamil Nadu in do-or-die contest
Chennai: A young Bengal team will take on the mighty Tamil Nadu in the final group league encounter which effectively is a do-or-die battle for both teams eyeing a knock-out berth in the Ranji Tropjy.
Both teams are on 18 points from seven games but Tamil Nadu with a better run-quotient are placed fourth while Bengal are a notch down at fifth.
Tamil Nadu had their best chance of winning outright against Rajasthan but conceded a first innings lead and got a point from the game.
Bengal on the otherhand have defeated Uttar Pradesh in their last game and will now hope to create an upset on a track that will obviously help the spinners. Bengal have also loaded their team with spinners. Apart from left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena and offie Saurashish Lahiri, spinning all-rounder Arnab Nandy and batsman Writtick Chatterjee are also expected to roll their arms over.
Therefore, the hosts are pushed to the wall in such tight situation and their hopes continue to hinge on the performance of against Bengal, the final chance to make the quarterfinal stage of this prestigious tournament.
Its spinners the two left-armers Rehil shah and Aushik Srinivasan, as well as off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan would be under pressure in this crucial game.
The top two teams on point table -- Railways (27) and Uttar Pradesh (23) have more or less sealed their berths from Group B, while Baroda with 20 points and Tamil Nadu and Bengal with identical 18 points would be fighting for the third and final berth from the group to progress to the quarterfinal stage.
Though, Baroda with three wins and three losses and one abandoned tie against Bengal are a hurdle for both Tamil Nadu and Bengal, their chances are fairly higher as they require only a draw with first innings lead against Rajasthan to gain an entry to next stage.
But, Tamil Nadu and Bengal not only require an outright win and seven points (including one for bonus) would be required to make the cut. Therefore the hosts would be under tremendous pressure with the onus on them.
Again everything will depend on skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who has been in tremendous form having scored two hundreds and a 95 in his last four games. Pacer Ashoke Dinda -- fresh from his 10-wicket haul will also like to trouble the Abhinav Mukunds and the Baba Aparajiths.
