The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Keen tussle on the cards

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Friday, Dec 01, 2006
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Keen tussle on the cards

Principal Correspondent

JAIPUR: The Hyderabad team is in a confident mood despite the absence of star batsman V.V. S. Laxman (now on the way to South Africa) as it prepares to take on Rajasthan in the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group `B' match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Friday. Rajasthan, which is fresh from its outright win against Gujarat is also raring to go.

Hyderabad had to settle for a first innings lead against Maharashtra after rain played spoilsport and is keen to register an outright win here. Fortunately, it will not have major selection problems since N. Arjun Yadav, who missed out the first match because of an injury, will replace Laxman. Southpaw Anirudh Singh, who cracked a splendid century, will lead the team.

Batting wicket

Hyderabad coach Vivek Jaisimha feels that the pitch looks hard and should be good for batting. "There will be moisture in the wicket in the first session. The first few overs of the morning session might be crucial," he added.

Vivek feels that if Rajasthan bats first, the onus will be on medium-pacers like P. Kaushik Reddy to provide the breakthrough for the spinners to take charge. This is understandable considering the excellent run that left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is having this season. He will be keen to continue his good work after a six-wicket haul against Maharashtra in the opener.

"We cannot take Rajasthan lightly on their home turf for they have very good players like Vikram Solanki, Kabir Ali, Ajay Jadeja and Gagan Khoda," Vivek explained.

The teams (from): Rajasthan: Ajay Jadeja (capt.), Mohd Aslam, R. Bishnoi, N.S. Doru, N.G. Gehlot, Gagan Khoda, S. Mathur, Pankaj Singh, Shamsher Singh, V.A. Saxena, Siddarth Joshi, R.G. Sharma, D.H. Yagnik, Kabir Ali and Vikram Solanki.

Hyderabad: Anirudh Singh (capt.), Alfred Absolom, Ibrahim Khaleel, Pragyan Ojha, D.B. Ravi Teja, A.T. Rayudu, P. Indrasekhar Reddy, P. Kaushik Reddy, A. Shiv Shanker, P. Sashank Nag, N.P. Singh, T. Suman, D. Vinay Kumar and N. Arjun Yadav.

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