‘Under par’ UP to play against Delhi

LUCKNOW : Coming out of nervousness would be the biggest challenge for Suresh Raina and Co when they square off a buoyant Delhi in a Group Ranji Trophy match, starting at the Palam ground in Delhi on Wednesday.

The match was originally scheduled to played at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground, but because of India-New Zealand Two tie also on Wednesday, it has been shifted.

The contrast of the two teams is evident. The morale of the Ishant Sharma-led Delhi are on a high after their big win over Railways, giving them enough confidence and belief that they can steamroll Uttar Pradesh.

On the contrary, the visitors, led by India discard Suresh Raina, have suffered a disastrous start to their Ranji campaign, losing against Railways and Maharashtra while another game against Hyderabad had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Failure of Raina with willow is a big concern for the side as so far he could score 0, 5, 6, 29 in the four innings he has played so far.

Rinku Singh’s unbeaten sparkling 122 (so far 191 runs) and some good batting by Akshdeep Nath (165 with 79 being his highest) and Shivam Chaudhary (133 with 54 being his highest) are some consolation so far, but the team lack a solidity in the middle-order and that’s the reason why UP’s batting has let them down in both their matches against Maharashtra and Railways here.

So far spinners Saurabh Kumar and Zeeshan Ansari alongwith seamer Ankit Rajpoot have done well for former champions Uttar Pradesh. Playing just his first match this season, left-arm orthodox bowler Saurabh has so far picked up 11 wickets, whereas leggie Zeeshan in his debut match against Railways had six wickets. Ankit has also taken 10 wickets so far.

Delhi, on the other hand, overcame the disappointment of a draw against Assam with a comprehensive win over Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

The star performer for them has been all-rounder Manan Sharam, who has scored a half century and hundred to go with his 10 wickets in two matches.

Another left-arm spinner, Vikas Sharma, too has been effective with nine wickets in two matches.

Captain Ishant Sharma, who has not played for India since the Ranchi Test against Australia in March, has picked up nine wickets including a five-wicket haul against Assam in team’s tournament opener.