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Vijay Hazare Trophy: Haryana takes on Punjab

Sports Reporter

ROHTAK: Host Haryana will take on Punjab in the opening match of the North Zone one-day limited-overs tournament for the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli, here on Wednesday.

Traditionally, the wicket here is known for its pacer-friendly nature. This time too, the pitch has some grass on it and the unseasonal rain has left its mark on the ground. Both sides will be eyeing the first morning session which is likely to provide some assistance to the quick bowlers.

Balanced attack

However, Haryana coach Ashwini Kumar said he would opt for a balanced attack as the wicket might ease up in the afternoon. “It has to be a combination of both pacers and spinners. We need bowlers who can use the old ball well,” he said.

Ashwini Kumar was hopeful that his team, consisting of experienced and young players, would put up a good show against a tough opponent like Punjab.

The visiting side would wait till the morning to decide its playing eleven, even though coach Bhupinder Singh backed the three-seamer-two-spinner formula.

“Haryana has come out of the Plate league and in the T20 it has shown its talent. So, I would like my team to dominate from the start,” Bhupinder said.

In other North Zone matches, Himachal Pradesh will lock horns with Services (at Gurgaon) and Delhi will meet Jammu and Kashmir (at Sirsa).

The teams (from):

Haryana: Rahul Dewan, Ankit Rawat, Nitin Saini, Sunny Singh (capt.), Joginder Sharma, Sanjay Badhwar, Sachin Rana, Y. Chahal, Pratik Pawar, Pradeep Sahu, Ajit Chandela, Sanjay Bamal, Neeraj Bansal, Dhruv Singh, Sandeep Godara, Jayant Yadav.

Punjab: Karan Goel (capt.), Ravi Inder Singh, Sunny Sohal, Uday Kaul, Vishwas Bhalla, Mandeep Singh, Bipul Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Manpreet Gony, Jaskaran Singh, Love Ablish, Himanshu Chawla, Taruwar Kohli, Harmeet Bansal, Rajwinder Golu.

Umpires: Sumit Bansal, Anil Chaudhary.

Match Referee: Chinmay Sharma.

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