The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Host Kerala starts favourite

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Host Kerala starts favourite

By Our Sports Reporter

PALAKKAD, DEC. 21. The big defeat against Saurashtra last week has left Kerala down and out of the Ranji contention zone, but the host team has decided to wipe away those bitter memories and play with a positive frame of mind against Jammu and Kashmir in its last of the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate Group A match that begins at the Fort Maidan grounds here on Wednesday.

The wicket looked hard with a bit of green on it and may well assist the medium pacers the first two days. "It's not a crumbling pitch and should last the full four days. It should definitely help the bowlers," said the chief curator C. Sneharaj.

Kerala, for a change, may play two medium pacers and three spinners. Prasanth Chandran and Sony Cheruvuthur are likely to open the bowling attack.

K. Ananthapadmanabhan, who announced his retirement from first class cricket on Monday evening, along with skipper Sreekumar Nair and Suresh Kumar will form the triple spin threat.

The in-form Jagadeesh, suffering from a finger injury, may also not find a place in the final eleven. Opening bat M.P. Sorab and top middle order batsman S. Ramakrishna have been called in to bolster the batting line-up.

Jammu and Kashmir, which suffered humiliating defeats in its last two matches, would also look forward to salvage some pride. The visitors failed to turn up for the practise session apparently due to some confusion in flight landing.

The teams:

Kerala (from): Sreekumar Nair (captain), M. Suresh Kumar (vice-captain), M.P. Sorab, Mausam Nathani (wicketkeeper), Sebastian Antony, Sreesanth, Vipinlal, Ananthapadmanabhan, Chandrasekhara, P. Anil Kumar, Sunil Oasis, Prasanth Chandran, S. Ramakrishnan and Jagadeesh. Chandrasekhar Rao (coach), Muthukumar (physio) and V. Vijayan (trainer).

Jammu and Kashmir: Druv Mahajan (captain), Majid Dar (vice-captain), Fayaz, Arshad Bhat (wicketkeeper), Sajjad, Kanvel Jeet Sing, Hovaid Ronga, Abid Nabi, Saleem Jahangir, Jaggtar Singh, Sameer Khujuria, Pranu Mahajan, Sami-u-llah, Vivek Singh, Anushman Sharma. M.M. Kent (Manager) and Davinder Arora (coach).

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