Kochi: A decisive encounter is on the cards for Kerala when they face group toppers Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy match at Thalassery on Friday .
After the defeat against Jammu and Kashmir pushed Kerala to the fifth spot in Group 'C', the home side will have to come up with their best performance to gain an upper hand against the visitors, who have an impressive 23 points from five matches.
“We are aiming for victory. It is a home match and we need to take maximum points from it. Himachal Pradesh is very good team and they have played impressively so far. So I see the match against them as a challenge and an opportunity to test our strength and weaknesses,“ said coach Sujith Somasundar.
For Kerala, the bowling department would be much of a problem. As their fast bowlers were not up to mark in a pace-friendly Jammu Kashmir wicket, Kerala will be relying on its spinners, especially C.P.Shahid, who has shown a fabulous home form so far.
THE SQUADS Kerala: Sachin Baby (Captain), Robert Fernandez (vice captain), Sanju Samson, Rohan Prem, V.A Jagadeesh, Nikhilesh Surendran, Abishek Hegde, Shahid, K.R. Sreejith, Sandeep Warrier, Niyaz, Sachin Mohan, Prasanth Parameswaran, Vinoop Manoharan, P. Prasanth.
Himachal Pradesh: Rishi Dhawan, Abhinav Bali, Aastish Bhalik, Vishal Bhatia, Bipul Sharma, Prashant Chopra, Paras Dogra, Gurvinder Singh, Karanveer Singh, Vikramjeet Malik, Maneik Mohil, Mohinder Sharma, Sangram Singh, Varun Sharma, Waqar Ahmed.
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