RAJKOT: The presence of Rishabh Pant in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy side will garner all the attention as the Ayush Badoni-led side takes on two-time winners Saurashtra in a must-win Group D game here from Thursday onwards.
Saurashtra too boast some star power of their own in Pant’s India teammate Ravindra Jadeja, and the discarded India No. 3 batter Cheteshwar Pujara.
Delhi and Saurashtra are placed fourth and fifth respectively and have a lot of ground to cover. Only the top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals.
There has been increased scrutiny of India’s poor batting performance in Australia recently. With head coach Gautam Gambhir expressing a desire to see India players appear in the Ranji Trophy, Pant and Ravindra Jadeja are among a host of stars – including India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal – who will again experience the grind of multi-day cricket.
The clash between Delhi and Saurashtra at the Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground C will also see former India pacers Jaidev Unadkat and Navdeep Saini. Both teams are in a mid-table scramble, with Delhi at 14 points and Saurashtra 11.
Saurashtra will look for strong performances from openers Harvik Desai and Tarang Gohel, and handy contributions from the likes of Pujara, Chirag Jani, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada and Prerak Mankad. The bowling duties will be shouldered by Unadkat, Hiten Kanbi, Jadeja and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Saurashtra will be eager for a performance similar to on e they produced against Chandigarh in the clash before the break.
Delhi’s batting will revolve around the hard-hitting Pant, captain Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull and opener Anuj Rawat. Their batting has been on and off this season and they will be looking for a complete performance.
In the bowling department, Delhi will be banking on Simarjeet Singh, Siddhant Sharma and Saini. Right-arm medium pacer Money Grewal will look to improve on an underwhelming season while it will be interesting to see whether Hrithik Shokeen gets into the playing XI.
With both teams needing a result to keep their qualification chances alive, all eyes will be on the Rajkot wicket. Will it be a traditional batting paradise or a rank turner which will assist spinners from the outset?