Kaul out with injury, Punjab start favourites
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 16
Hosts Punjab will be hamstrung by pacer Siddarth Kaul’s absence when they take on Hyderabad in the second round of their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Patiala. Despite this setback, a dominant Punjab will start favourites at their home ground. The 10-wicket win over Rajasthan in their season-opener, with a century by captain Mandeep Singh and two half-centuries by Gurkeerat Mann and debutant wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra, is the reason why Punjab will take the field with a positive mindset. The seamers too were among the wickets in their Jaipur outing where Punjab notched up a bonus-point win (7 points) after a long time.
Kaul has been ruled out with an abdominal injury for three-four weeks. Kaul suffered the injury on the third day of their season-opener while diving for the ball during the Rajasthan innings. His rehabilitation will take place at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru.
This season, Punjab will play all their home matches at Patiala, barring one in Mohali, and the batting-friendly track at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium will only work in their favour, provided they negotiate the first session of play, where seamers are likely to exploit moisture and seamer-friendly conditions. Patiala is hosting the Ranji Trophy matches after two years.
Punjab coach Munish Bali said, “We have the satisfaction of giving a complete performance in the first match. Our batsmen, seamers, spinners, lower-order batsmen all have done extremely well. To log bonus points against two-time champions Rajasthan at their home is a big moral- booster. But tomorrow is another game. Hyderabad is a good team and we will have to again do well at our home.”
Weather will be a key factor as fog and windy conditions are a constant feature of the winters in the northern region. However, the forecast for Tuesday is sunny, still there is unpredictability. “We will decide the playing XI after seeing the conditions tomorrow,” Bali added
Hyderabad, on the other hand, will look to bounce back after losing to Gujarat by eight wickets in their Group A season-opener in Hyderabad. The visitors will be expecting a fiery performance from their lead pacer Mohammed Siraj who took three wickets in their season-opener. The Tanmay Aggarwal-led side does not have many big names in their ranks but comprises batsmen who look in good touch. In their season-opener, Hyderabad skipper Agarwal fell four short of a century in the second innings, wicketkeeper Kolla Sumanth played an unbeaten knock of 68 runs off 189 balls in the first innings. They have got the starts but failed to convert them into big ones.
HP vs TN
In Group B, Himachal Pradesh take on Tamil Nadu at Dindigul. Uttarakhand take on Chhattisgarh in their Group C match at Raipur, while Haryana take on Tripura at Lahli, Rohtak. Jammu & Kashmir take on Maharashtra at Pune. In the Plate Group, Chandigarh take on Bihar at the Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh.
