The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Upbeat Delhi takes on Baroda

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Upbeat Delhi takes on Baroda

Special Correspondent

INDORE: Delhi cricket is firmly on a redemption course. On the eve of the Ranji Trophy semifinals against Baroda at the Usha Raje Stadium here, the Delhi cricketers appear a determined lot and need no reminder that this an opportunity to hog the attention for the right reasons.

Last January, Delhi was just a defeat away from being relegated to the Plate division. Today, Delhi finds itself two victories away from winning the Ranji Trophy for the seventh time. Compliments have replaced complaints in the Delhi dressing room and this positive change is hard to ignore.

Unlike their predecessors in the last few seasons, skipper Gautam Gambhir and coach Vijay Dahiya are talking about “players backing each other” in crisis and sharing a common goal of bringing back the respectability to Delhi’s cricket it once enjoyed.

Performance matters

Dahiya makes a point while explaining the team’s ability to repeatedly lift itself from crisis this season. “Everyone in the team today understands that one’s performance makes him senior or junior. Each one is equally accountable to each other, irrespective of their seniority. Many past cricketers have told me this season that after a long time, Delhi is looking and playing like a team,” says Dahiya with a glint of pride in this eyes.

However, Delhi is without the services of in-form batsman Virat Kohli and left-arm swing bowler Pradeep Sangwan (24 wickets in six matches), both away on National under-19 duty. The recall of left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who last played against U.P. in 2006, has raised many eyebrows. Gambhir, who convinced Sanghvi to join the team, and Dahiya feel that the need of the hour was to have an experienced spinner in the side ahead of a “big” game.

Baroda’s skipper and opener 34-year-old Connor Williams sounded optimistic about his chances and underplayed the below par performances in the last two outings against Andhra and Orissa. “I hope the two games serve as the wake-up calls to my boys,” said Williams.

The team has a well-settled, experienced batting line-up and quality spinners. Rakesh Solanki (533 runs) and Williams (533) have done their bit in the top order. Young wicketkeeper Pinal Shah (376) and Shatrunjay Gaekwad (206 runs from four innings) have come good when needed.

Coach Paras Mhambrey believes that the pitch here should assist spinners. He expects off-spinner Yusuf Pathan, who has not only taken 25 wickets but also scored 314 runs this season, and left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar (20 wickets) to turn things Baroda’s way.

The teams (from):

Delhi: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Akash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Chetnya Nanda, Amit Bhandari, Parvinder Awana, Narinder Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht, Aditya Jain, Gaurav Chhabra, Rahul Sanghvi and Sumit Narwal.

Baroda: Connor Williams (captain), Satyajit Parab, Azhar Bilakhia, Rakesh Solanki, Shatrunjay Gaekwad, Pinal Shah, Yusuf Pathan, Rajesh Pawar, Sankalp Vohra, Rishikesh Parab, Sumit Singh, Irfan Pathan (Sr.), Dishan Mehta, Salim Yusuf Veragi and Miten Shah.

Umpires: Messrs I. Shivaram and R. Y. Gokhale. Third umpire: Sudhir Asnani. Match Referee: Rajendra Jadeja.