Sport - Cricket

Andhra seeks to make amends

NEW DELHI: Lying at the bottom of Group B, a determined Andhra will take on Railways in a Ranji Trophy super league match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Sunday.

Despite managing just two points from three matches so far, Andhra is confident about its young brigade of cricketers and sees the match against Railways as the best opportunity to be in the reckoning for the knockout stage.

“On paper we have not done well but ours is a good side, full of youngsters. In the first two games we should have taken the lead. In the last game against Karnataka we were on top while bowling, but our batsmen let us down,” Andhra coach M.V. Narasimha Rao said after the team’s practice.

He also complained that the schedule was too tight. “There is hardly any gap. Playing back-to-back away games takes a huge toll on us as we have to travel 16 to 18 hours to reach from one venue to another,” Rao remarked.

Without the services of prolific opener Amit Pagnis, the host side has decided on the final XII. The other notable omission in the side is veteran seamer Harvinder Singh.

Coach Abhay Sharma said the home team, which conceded the first innings lead to Baroda in its previous match, would like to make amends to its batting.

Sharma thinks Andhra is not a weaker opponent and Railways, which has four points from two matches, should not be over-ambitious in its expectations.