The Hindu : Sport : Run feast likely on benign strip

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Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008
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Run feast likely on benign strip

V.V. Subrahmanyam

Deccan Chargers may open with Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi

— Photo: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

DIFFICULT TIMES: Delhi Daredevils’s Glenn McGrath and Deccan Chargers’s Nuwan Zoysa may find the going tough on a flat wicket.

Hyderabad: After losing its opening game, Deccan Chargers will hope to post its first win when it takes on Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevils in the DLF Indian Premier League at the floodlit Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) here on Tuesday.

With the wicket looking full of runs, Deccan Chargers could open with Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi — a dream combination for the fans and a possible nightmare for the fielding side. Laxman may also tinker with the bowling line-up, given that the performances on the Eden Gardens wicket were aided by what he termed as a “shocking wicket, not fit for any form of the game”.

The strip here could well test even bowlers such as Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas and India international Rudra Pratap Singh. In all likelihood left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who picked up the important wickets of Saurav Ganguly and Mohd. Hafeez at the Eden Gardens on Sunday, will be retained.

Andrew Symonds will again be crucial to Deccan Chargers’ hopes of posting a challenging score. The team’s captain Laxman will also be determined to prove a point in this format of cricket.

For Delhi Daredevils, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori would be crucial to making a huge impression on the game. The team should be confident after winning its opening game against Rajasthan Royals.

The teams (from):

Deccan Chargers: V.V.S. Laxman (capt.), Scott Styris, Adam Gilchrist (wk.), Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Andrew Symonds, Sanjay Bangar, Rohit Sharma, Chamara Silva, Y. Venugopala Rao, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Haladhar Das (wk.), D. Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, D.B. Ravi Teja, P.M. Sarvesh Kumar, R.P. Singh, P. Vijaykumar and Arjun Yadav.

Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary, Daniel Vettori, Dinesh Karthik, Glenn McGrath, Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Brett Geeves, Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Amit Mishra, Tejasvi Yadav, Yogesh Nagar, A.B. de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Asif, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Abdur Razzak.

Match starts at: 8 p.m.

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