Bangalore: Hosts Karnataka and 40-time champions Mumbai will be hoping to cement their quaterfinal berths when the two teams meet each other in their penultimate Group A Ranji Trophy match beginning at KSCA Stadium here tomorrow.
Karnataka are presently leading the group with 26 points from six games, with Mumbai closely behind on 23 points from as many matches. Cricket followers are in for an extravagant treat as both sides would not like to be holed up in a pressure-cooker like situation by conceding far too many points and create an headache for themselves.
And in their next match starting tomorrow, Karnataka, who have registered three consecutive outright victories, will be hoping to make life difficult star-studded Gujarat, who are number three with 20 points, and Delhi (19 points).
"We are table-toppers. They (Mumbai) are second. We don't want to fritter away the chance. We have a very good bowling attack. There is a bit of grass on the wicket. It may help seamers for the first two days, then it will become a good batting track," Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar said.
Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer said Karnataka are a good team having depth in their batting and bowling. "This home side is similar to one which we played against in Mysore some years back. They have good batting and bowling line-up," he said.
With 612 runs under his belt, which includes a century and three half centuries, opener Lokesh Rahul has been the leading run-getter for Karnataka. He, in company of Mayank Agarwal, would like to give a rollicking start to get hold of the match against Mumbai.
Agarwal, who had a great beginning to his Ranji career by cracking 90 runs at debut against Jharkhand, would love to get back the lost touch. Manish Pandey, who stamped his class by hitting a sparkling century against Punjab in the last game, would also carry the sublime form into tomorrow's match.
Pandey stole the show with his 161 which included 15 fours and three sixes after spending six-and-a-half hours on the crease, showing he has the penchant for long innings. The form of Ganesh Satish and CM Gautam, in the middle-order, will not be a cause of concern for captain Vinay Kumar ahead of the crucial match.
Among their bowlers, pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and H S Sharath have been among wickets so far and would like to continue the good work. Stuart Binny and spinner KP Appanna also have been among wickets.
Defending champion Mumbai, who drew with Odisha in the last game, on the other hand would look to seal their place in the quarterfinal stage with an outright victory. After surviving anxious moments against minnows Jharkhand to eke out a draw, Mumbai put up a better show in their last home match against Odisha, where they nearly registered an innings victory.
"If we manage to get three points against Karnataka and if we win the game, nothing like it but it gives lot of confidence to the team going into the knockout stage. Obviously, we will go in with a positive note," Jaffer said.
Mumbai would rely heavily on seasoned player Jaffer (503 runs) and wicketkeeper Aditya Tare (525 runs) to pile up a big total. The holders must be a bit concerned over the poor form of opener Sushant Marathe. "Aditya has scored 525 runs but other two openers have not come good. They are young and we need to back them," Jaffer said.
Hiken Shah would like to continue the form after striking a superb 170 runs in his last innings. The visitng team's bowling looks below par as Shardul Thakur (12 wickets) and Javed Khan (18 wickets) shone only in patches. But Mumbai has left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar, who is the top wicket-taker with 29 victims, in its ranks.
Saurashtra, Baroda in do-or-die Ranji tie from tomorrow
Saurashtra, Baroda in do-or-die Ranji tie from tomorrow
Rajkot: Saurashtra and Baroda will lock horns in a crucial Ranji Trophy group B match here from tomorrow at the Saurashtra Cricket Association's stadium here. Both the teams need an outright win to keep the hopes of entering the knockout stage but Saurashtra will have the home advantage.
Saurashtra, who drew their last match against Madhya Pradesh, have 16 points from six matches while Baroda, who beat services in the previous match, had 14 points from six matches. "Both the teams need nothing less then an outright win to qualify for knock-out stage," said Jaydev Shah, Saurashtra captain. "Our focus is now to win both the matches and we might have an advantage of playing on the home ground."
Jaydev, who is in good form, will be shouldering the batting responsibility alongwith Sagar Jogiyani, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada and Bhushan Chauhan. Jaydev Unadkat and Abhishek Bhatt would handle the new ball, to be supported by spinners Kamlesh Makwana, Vishal Joshi and Dharmendra Jadeja.
Baroda skipper Yusuf Pathan is hopeful that his teammates would do their best. "We have lost two games but our young players have clicked at the right time and I am hoping that they would deliver their best," Pathan said, conceding that hosts may have advantage of home ground.
Munaf Patel, who bowled magnificently against Services in last match, would spearhead Baroda's bowling attack, supported by Gagandeep Singh, Irfan Pathan and spinners Yusuf Pathan and Bhargav Bhatt. The batting line-up includes Aditya Waghmode, Kedar Devdhar, Dhiren Mistrey, skipper Pathan and Irfan Pathan.
Teams: Baroda: Yusuf Pathan (capt), Irfan Pathan, Aditya Waghmode, Kedar Devdhar, Saurabh Warkarkar, Dhiren Mistrey, Pinal Shah, Gagandeep Singh, Bhargav Bhatt, Utkarsh Patel, Abhijeet Karmblekar, Firdaush Bhaja, Murtuza Vahora, Baba Safi Khan Pathan and Ketul Patel.
Saurashtra: Jaydev Shah (capt), Sagar Jogiyani, Chirag Pathak, Bhushan Chauhan, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Kamlesh Makwana, Jaydev Unadkat, Abhishek Bhatt, Dharmendra Jadeja, Vishal Joshi, Nayan Doshi, Sandip Maniar and Chirag Jani.
Weather biggest rival as Delhi face Punjab in a must-win tie
Weather biggest rival as Delhi face Punjab in a must-win tie
New Delhi: More than Yuvraj Singh battling it out with the likes of Virender Sehwag, rival sides Delhi and Punjab are concerned about the foggy conditions which may be the biggest impediment to an outright win in the 7th group league Ranji Trophy game at the Roshanara tomorrow.
The poor visibility during the last week of December has always been a problem in Northern India and BCCI's shoddy scheduling of matches added insult to the injury. Delhi with 19 points from six games and Punjab with 17 from an equal number of outings are currently placed fourth and fifth respectively in group A. Only an outright win in this game would brighten their chances to make it to the quarter-finals and the weather is likely to play spoilsport.
"We had requested the BCCI to schedule our matches in such a manner that the final few games during the last week of December are away matches. We wanted to play at home during the earlier phase," a worried chairman of selectors Chetan Chauhan told reporters on the eve of the match today.
Even Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh (Sr) feels that if 70 overs are possible each day, it will be a good thing. "We have told the match referee and umpires that we are prepared for 70 over per day game. The track is a result oriented one and I hope that my boys have saved their best for the last," Bhupi Sr, as he is affectionately called, told mediapersons.
If weather and seaming strip are on the mind, the "poor facilities" at the Roshanara ground has irked the Punjab team management. While the home team Delhi has been provided with the big hall for dressing room purpose with proper security arrangements, Punjab team will have to make do with makeshift arrangements which doesn't even proper privacy for the players.
"We have also been told that once the day's proceedings gets over, the players will have to carry their kitbags and keep them in a separate room as the makeshift dressing room will be used by the club members in the evening. We told DDCA as to why they arranged it here when you had Kotla," an angry senior member of the Punjab team management questioned.
On the team front, while Yuvraj Singh is available for this game and had a knock at the nets, Harbhajan Singh is unlikely to play in this game as he still has some pain in his shoulder while bowling. "Don't rule me out as I am trying my best to recover in time for the match," Harbhajan said before being attended by the team physio.
While Mandeep Singh is again set to lead the side, VRV Singh also looks like a doubtful starter. In that case, Manpreet Singh Gony, Sandeep Sharma, Jaskaran Singh and Siddharth Kaul are likely to form the four-pronged pace attack.
For Delhi, it is likely to be the same XI that played against Vidarbha with young Navdeep Saini getting another chance to prove his mettle on a helpful track. The track for this game is a seamer friendly one although it's not as green as it was during the last game. Also BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee has been sent to monitor the preparations so that there aren't any stoppages like it happened in the last game.
"My job is to see that all specifications are followed. I will be leaving tomorrow for Lucknow," said Chatterjee, who had topped BCCI's Curators' Exam last year.
