India Blue skipper Suresh Raina seems happy about Uttar Pradesh hosting the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament for the second year in a row. On the eve of his team’s match against India Red, the seasoned Raina said that it would be an opportunity for young players like Abhimanyu Eswaran and Ishan Singh to make a mark.
“We are looking forward to the match. All matches at all levels are important. Even though we are not sure about the availability of players or their replacements, I’m sure everything will fall in place soon,” said Raina.
The all-rounder gave credit to the groundsmen who had “worked very hard” to get the pitch ready at short notice, and praised the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association for taking up the challenge of hosting the tournament.
With an unusually hard outfield and a firm pitch, Green Park could live up to its reputation over the years of being a batsman’s paradise. It will be interesting to see how the pink ball behaves under the floodlights in these conditions.
It was intriguing, though, to see some of the players using the white ball during practice in the evening.
When asked about his recent meeting with Sachin Tendulkar, Raina quipped that it was “important to meet God”, and added that he had got his blessings.
Red skipper Dinesh Karthik, who had scored a century and a half century on a tricky pitch at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in the victory over India Green, said his team would look to maintain the tempo.
“It was a good effort by our team in the first match, especially in the second innings,” said Karthik.
He said he had not seen the pitch here so far but felt sure that it would “be slightly better than Lucknow”.
Karthik clarified that all of his team’s players who have been selected for the India-A side to play New Zealand-A in
Vijayawada would figure in this match.
Though the tournament might lose a handful of players before the title match, their departure would only open the doors for the replacements to walk right into Duleep Trophy action, and that too the final no less.
The teams (from): India Red: Dinesh Karthik (c), Rishabh Pant, Rahul Singh Gahlaut, Sudip Chatterjee, Ashoke Dinda, Karn Sharma, B. Indrajith, Basil Thampi, Priyank Panchal, Ishank Jaggi, C.V. Milind, Vijay Gohil, Ambati Rayudu, Prithvi Shaw.
India Blue: Suresh Raina (c), Abhimanyu Eswaran, Manoj Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Bhargav Bhatt, Deepak Jagbir Hooda, Vijay Shankar, K.S. Bharat, Ankit Rajpoot, Sagul Kamat, Ishant Sharma, Samit Gohil, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan.
Referee: V. Narayanan Kutty. Umpires:Yeshwant Barde and Navdeep Singh.
Play starts at 1.30 p.m.