Caught in a jam, Delhi opt for the green

Still in search of their first outright win of the saason after having gained two points from each of their three games so far, Delhi have o...

Still in search of their first outright win of the saason after having gained two points from each of their three games so far, Delhi have opted for a ‘greener’ wicket at the Jamia Millia venue for their Elite Division Group A league encounter against Madhya Pradesh, starting tomorrow.

Delhi enjoy an upperhand with an in-form skipper Ajay Jadeja leading them from the front.

Rajat Bhatia and and Shikar Dhawan are also in fine nick while bowling rests in the safe hands of Amit Bhandari and Sanjay Gill.

Story continues below this ad

MP have just two points from the drawn match against Mumbai, having succeeded in staving off a defeat against Karnataka. They are now tied with three other teams on two points in the group.

MP will bank on the skills of skipper Amay Khurasia, Sachin Dholpure, Nikhil Patwardhan and Abbas Ali in batting and former Test leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani in bowling.

Hyderabad upbeat

Hyderabad: After an outright victory against Maharashtra, hosts Hyderabad will take on Baroda in their third Elite A group Ranji Trophy encounter. The shake-up has worked well for hosts, who opened their account with full four points, as new inductions Shashank Nag and Fahad Shahnawaz have come good.

	RANJI SCHEDULE

			• Bengal vs Mumbai (Kolkata) • Gujarat vs Railways (Ahmedabad) • Karnataka vs Andhra (Bangalore) • Delhi vs MP (Delhi) • Punjab vs Maharashtra (Mohali) • Hyderabad vs Baroda (Hyderabad) • Assam vs TN (Guwahati)

Anirudh Singh, Arjun Yadav, Daniel Manohar, Ambati Rayudu continue to be the main batting hope for hosts. Skipper Venkatapati Raju will lead the bowling attack for hosts while newcomer Shahnawaz will support him from the other end.

Story continues below this ad

Visitors have the experience and skill of skipper Jacob Martin and his deputy Connor Williams. Kiran Powar, Rajesh Pawar and veteran wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia add to the strength of Baroda.

Yusuf Pathan, Rakesh Patel and Irfan Pathan (Sr) are also in the ranks of Baroda to test the Hyderabad batting skills.

Andhra vs Karnataka

Bangalore: Andhra will take on Karnataka in the fourth round here. Both teams have two points each and would look to score their first win.