The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Premier Cup quarterfinals from today

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Sunday, Mar 18, 2007
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Premier Cup quarterfinals from today

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: At a time when the interest of the cricketing world is firmly on the finding the champion one-day side in the game, India is quietly searching for its best State team in the limited-over version. Without doubt, the timing of the on-going Premier Cup reflects poorly on the priorities of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

As a result, the performances are likely to count for nothing much since this is the last domestic competition of the season. Without the attention of the National selectors, the motivation of those on view is bound to be a little less.

Neglected tournament

Unlike in the past, this one-day knockout tournament has remained one among the neglected domestic competitions in the last few years. Holding it at the fag end of the season has served no real purpose.

Needless to add, with an eye on the World Cup this season, all the domestic one-day tournaments should have been scheduled before the announcement of the team.

In fact, how many in this cricket crazy nation even care to remember that last April, Railways defeated Uttar Pradesh to become the National one-day champion? It is a different matter that this year, Railways failed to qualify from the zonal league phase.

With the indifference hard to miss, it is not surprising to note that even a Delhi-Mumbai clash has failed to evoke any interest at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. When the two sides come face to face on Sunday, not many in the Capital are expected to be in the stands to cheer some of those who fell short of making the World Cup squad.

Mumbai, the 2003-04 champion, was on a high after regaining the Ranji Trophy. However, in the West Zone one-day league, it could only finish second best to Maharashtra.

Delhi, too, came second in the North Zone league after some very ordinary performances. Home advantage means little at a Kotla track where the low and slow bounce will force the stroke-makers to improvise. Considering the changed weather in the past week, bowling first could prove advantageous.

With Tamil Nadu and Karnataka making it from the low-scoring pre-quarterfinals at Dharamshala, more intense action is expected here over the next four days. The caravan will then move to Jaipur for the semifinals and the final.

The schedule: Quarterfinals:

March 18: Delhi vs. Mumbai.

March 19: Punjab vs. Maharashtra.

March 20: UP vs. Karnataka.

March 21: Tamil Nadu vs. Rajasthan.

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