Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Andhra to remain in Plate division

K.S. Shabuddin

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Ranji team, which was relegated to Plate division from Elite group in 2008-2009, will remain in Plate division in the next season too, after its five-wicket defeat to Assam in the semi-final of the Plate division at Guwahati on Friday.

Andhra Ranji team, under the supervision of new coach J. Krishna Rao, managed to reach the knock-out stage of the Plate division after garnering 10 points in Group B segment. In fact, it was the outright victory over Jammu and Kashmir that propelled Andhra to occupy the second position in its group.

A close look at the performance of the Andhra Ranji team brings to fore the team’s lack of willingness to deliver as a cohesive unit. While both the medium pacers and spinners did an exemplary job, the top order batsmen caved in without putting up a semblance of fight.

Fielding, both close-in and outfield, was found wanting on many occasions.

In the preliminary matches, openers Watekar and L.N. Prasad Reddy failed to give their team a rousing start.

But in the crucial game against Assam, it was the same duo that took the fight into the enemy camp by mustering 100-run partnership in the second innings.

Watekar scored 179 runs in five matches while Prasad Reddy accumulated 177 runs in five matches.

India discard and T-20 player Y. Venugopala Rao (201 runs in five matches) failed to live up to his reputation by getting out cheaply in both the innings against Assam.

His highest score for the season was 69 against Kerala. “A batsman of the calibre of Venu should play a sheet-anchor innings and bail out his team from difficulty. But that was not to be,” felt a senior cricketer.

Shahabuddin (211 runs and 13 wickets), brave-heart all-rounder shone both with bat and ball but failed to rise to the occasion when his team needed him most against Assam.

Despite the dismal show by Andhra Ranji team this season, there is some good news.

A good number of youngsters proved their mettle by their heart-warming performances and they will form the fulcrum of Andhra team in the future.

Players like all-rounders G. Sankar Rao (188 runs and 7 wickets), D. Siva Kumar (92 runs and 10 wickets), Atchutha Rao (12 wickets), Rakesh (127 runs in three matches) and off-spinner G.V.S. Prasad have appeared as future hope of Andhra team.

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