The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : It’s a do or die battle for Andhra Ranji team

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Thursday, Dec 11, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

It’s a do or die battle for Andhra Ranji team

J. R. Shridharan

Needs an emphatic win against Baroda to avoid relegation

Andhra’s Ranji teams retained Elite status since 2001
In five matches, the team has not reached 300 runs

— PHOTO: RAJU.V

get cracking! Andhra Ranji team coach M.V. Narasimha Rao giving tips to skipper Y. Gnaneswara Rao and B. Sumanth at IGMC Stadium in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

VIJAWAWADA: The nets at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium witnessed a hectic cricketing activity on Wednesday, with Andhra Ranji players training hard for more than three hours under the supervision of coach and former India international M.V. Narasimha Rao.

Last league match

The Andhra team, after a few days of training, will be leaving for Vadodara (Baroda) to play its last super league match in Elite ‘B’ group against the host team from December 18. Andhra, with a string of mediocre performances, is lying at the bottom of the table and needs an emphatic victory against a strong Baroda team to avoid relegation to Plate Division.

Andhra, right from the inception of Elite and Plate segments by the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) in 2001, has done well to retain its place in the Elite category.

“We need big partnerships at the top order. The batsmen should not only rely on boundaries but concentrate on rotating the strike and accumulate ones and twos,” felt Mr. Rao.

Andhra played five matches so far, but failed to post a total of even 300 runs. The highest total posted by Andhra in the ongoing season was 283 against Tamil Nadu in the rain-marred match here early this month.

Many cricket administrators and coaches felt that relegation to Plate segment will not augur well for the future of Andhra Ranji team. “The top two teams in Plate segment would gain entry into super league of the Elite group. It is not easy, as Andhra would have to play against a good number of quality teams in the Plate segment to qualify. Even if Andhra performs well in Plate segment, it would gain entry into the Elite segment only in 2010-2011 season,” said a senior coach.

‘Talented bunch’

“The boys are a talented bunch. If they can get their act together, they can wriggle their team out of the crisis. The best possible way would be to forget what had happened and take on Baroda on a confident and positive note,” said former Andhra coach K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

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