Sport - Cricket

Hyderabad opts for a batting track

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad has decided to play it safe by opting for a near-perfect batting track against Punjab in their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A’ match starting at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) here on Friday.

With 10 points from five games and only a theoretical chance of qualifying for the knock-out phase, Hyderabad coach Kanwaljit Singh believes that it is better to achieve the first target of picking three points by going for first innings lead and then trying for a probable victory.

Considering that this will be the last game for the home team before its final encounter against group leader Saurashtra in Rajkot next week, one thought Hyderabad which has nothing to lose, would prefer a lively wicket against a team which is low on confidence with seven points from five matches and seventh in the overall standings, just above the bottom-placed Rajasthan.

“If V. V. S. Laxman and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha were in the team, may be the gameplan would have been different. But now we are not keen on taking any chances,” said the coach.

As far as team selection goes, Kanwaljit indicated that the preference would be for three seamers and a frontline spinner — the choice being between the very talented off-spinner Shivshankar and rookie leg-spinning, all-rounder Paramveer Singh.

Paramveer remains a mystery as he was dropped for the Mumbai match without getting a chance against Rajasthan at home. Logically it would seem to be that if he is good enough to be in the Ranji squad he should be worth experimenting with or he need not be picked at all.

With nothing to lose, many expect Hyderabad to field fresh faces to test their talent.

For his part, Punjab coach Arun Sharma says it is too late to expect any miracles after a disappointing season for his team.

“Honestly, we are still struggling to find a quality spinner. No doubt, we are still in the rebuilding process,” he pointed out.

His first objective is also to look for the first innings lead. The major worry for him is the lack of form of captain Pankaj Dharmani who has scored 130 runs from five games so far.

But, he is pleased with the way under-22 batsman Sunny Sohal hit three centuries this season. Others like Uday Kaul (271 runs), Ravinder Singh (237) and Ankush Kakkar (299) are in good nick.

“Obviously, we look to fast bowlers Gagandeep Singh and Manpreet Singh Gony to deliver the goods for a surprise result,” he said.

The teams (from): Hyderabad: N. Arjun Yadav (capt), D. B. Ravi Teja, T. Suman, S. Anoop Pai, Abhiav Kumar (wk), Ahmed Quadri, S. M. Shoaib, M. P. Arjun, Ashwin Yadav, Amol Shinde, Shiv Shanker, Goutham Reddy, Paramveer Singh, Mohd Shakeer and Ronald Rodrigues.

Punjab: Pankaj Dharmani (capt), Sunny Sohal, Ravinder Singh, Uday Kaul, Siddarth Kaul, Karan Goel, Ankush Kakkar, S. Mayank, Manpreet Gony, Amanpreet Singh, Varun Khanna, Sarabjit Singh Ladda, Chandan Maddan, Gagandeep Singh and J. Ankur

Umpires: Ananta Padmanabhan & G. A. Pratap Kumar. Match referee: B. Raghunath.

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