More than the players in the opposition, Delhi and Punjab, who are playing their penultimate Ranji Trophy Group A league match at Roshanara Club ground here from Sunday, were bothered about the weather conditions.
The poor visibility due to fog and overcast conditions that prevailed in the Capital on Saturday worried both the hosts and the visitors alike as both of them are looking for an outright win to stay alive in the knockout race.
It’s common knowledge that the northern region of India is engulfed in fog during this time of the year and despite Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) bringing it to the BCCI’s notice and requesting it to schedule Delhi’s initial Ranji Trophy matches at home and later at away venues, the poor scheduling by the board has resulted in Delhi playing their last two crucial matches — against Punjab and Karnataka — under a cover of fog and bad light.
“We had requested the BCCI to give us first four matches at home and last four at away venues so that this weather doesn’t affect our matches,” DDCA’s chairman of selectors Chetan Chauhan said.
Delhi and Punjab with 19 and 17 points respectively, are placed at fourth and fifth position in the Group A points table and a win in this match would improve their chances of finishing in the top three, which is necessary to qualify for the knockout round.
Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh (Sr) was also worried about the possibility of a reduced match but said since it wasn’t in their hands, it was futile to keep thinking about it. “We’re looking at 70 overs a day game. We have communicated this thing to the match referee and umpires as well. We are in a situation that we need to play full matches but weather is not our hands,” the coach said.
Punjab haven’t had a good season so far but Bhupinder was hopeful that his wards would give their best in the remaining last couple of matches. “The track is result oriented and I hope that my boys have saved their best for the last. So far we haven’t played to our potential. As a coach, I am not satisfied with the team’s performance and want them to peak from here,” he said.
Another cause of worry for Punjab is Harbhajan Singh’s shoulder injury. Though he didn’t bowl in the nets, Bhajji was seen bowling after the practice session to test his shoulder. However, Yuvraj Singh’s presence is a boost for the side.
On the other hand, Delhi look a settled and confident side as they have won their previous two matches on the same ground.
Teams
Delhi: Gautam Gambhir (c), Unmukt Chand, Virender Sehwag, Mithun Manhas, Vaibhav Rawal, Rajat Bhatia, Rahul Yadav, Ashish Nehra, Parvinder Awana, Sumit Narwal, Navdeep Saini, Pawan Suyal, Mohit Sharma, Milind Kumar, Manan Sharma
Punjab: Mandeep Singh (c), Yuvraj Singh, Manpreet Gony, Uday Kaul, Jiwanjot Singh, Manan Vohra, Gurkeerat Mann, VRV Singh, Rahul Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Jaskaran Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Taruwar Kohli, Rajwinder Singh, Geetansh Khera