City boys brace up for Pondicherry test

Chandigarh, January 4

Advertisement

Chandigarh will host Pondicherry in their fourth-round fixture of the Col CK Nayudu Trophy match at the Sector 16 stadium here from Sunday. Amrit Lubana-led Chandigarh are placed third on the points table with 15 points from three matches, while the visitors are second with 17 points.

Chandigarh beat Nagaland by an innings and 101 runs in their previous match and will be keen on continuing the good work against Pondicherry. Chandigarh bowlers have done well in the tournament so far and Lubana will expect them to deliver against Pondicherry at home. The skipper, though, will be a bit concerned about an inconsistent top-order and will like to see Jagmeet Singh and Sanchit Sahu come good against the visitors. Taranpreet Singh has also not delivered with the bat after his 199-run knock against Arunachal Pradesh in the campaign opener. Chandigarh middle order has shown great character in the past and they need to maintain their form if the hosts want to gain maximum points against Sai Karthik-led Pondicherry.

The visitors on the other hand will be banking on Paras Ratnaparkhe and all-rounder Sidak Singh to put the hosts under pressure. — TNS

Squads

Chandigarh: Amrit Lubana (captain), Aayush Sikka, Ayush Guatam, Bhagmender Lather, Harshit Singh, Jagmeet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Monarch Goyal, Nippun Pandita, Nikhil Sharma, Sanchit Sahu, Sanyam Saini, Shivang Saini, Taranpreet Singh, Tushar Joshil

Pondicherry: Sai Karthik (captain), Paras Ratnaparkhe, Sidak Singh, Akash Kargave, George Samuel, Arumugam S, Madhan Kumar, Abhijeet Saranath, Sowrrow Singh, Ashwin R, Santhosh Kumaran, Yash Jadhav, Sathish Jangir, Tamilarasan B