The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Overcast skies welcomes North Zone

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Overcast skies welcomes North Zone

Principal Correspondent

Bangalore: A delayed flight and overcast skies on a match eve are not welcome signs but North Zone, set to play its first match in the current edition of the Prof. D.B. Deodhar Trophy tournament against Central Zone, will have to shrug off the rust and play hard at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

The North Zone team landed late in the evening and though a few of them trooped into the stadium, there was hardly any time for pre-match nets. Meanwhile skipper Virender Sehwag and deputy Gautam Gambhir are expected to reach later on Sunday.

“Ours is a young team and we hope to start well,” said North’s coach Anuj Pal Das. The squad does not have the trio of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma, who will have to get their fitness certified by the National Cricket Academy for the forthcoming South African series.

Strong batting

However with a batting that rests on Sehwag, Gambhir, Akash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan and the India under-19 captain Virat Kohli, North can fancy its chances. Pradeep Sangwan, seamer and another key player from the India under-19 squad, is also part of the squad.

Meanwhile for the Md. Kaif led Central, it is all about keeping the momentum going. Central, won its opening match against defending champion West Zone by six wickets here on Friday. And on a fresh pitch that has a tinge of grass rolled in, its coach Abhay Sharma is hoping that his seamers — R.P. Singh, Praveen Kumar and Sandeep Singh — strike the right notes again.

“There is something for the fast bowlers in this pitch and it will be a 50-50 match. North is a good side and the first hour will be crucial on his kind of pitch and with the weather staying the way it is,” Abhay said pointing to the skies. Central did lose its way a wee-bit while chasing West’s 98 and lost four wickets in the chase but Abhay said that, “these things happen when you have a match in your pocket, batsmen tend to play a few shots.”

The teams: Central Zone: Md. Kaif (captain), Murali Kartik, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Rohit Sharma, Faiz Fazal, Praveen Gupta, Sandeep Singh, R.P. Singh, Deepak Yadav, Naman Ojha (wicket keeper), Himalaya Sagar, Ravi Jangid, Rajesh Kanojia and Rohit Sharma. Coach: Abhay Sharma; Physio: Vaibhav Daga; Manager: Gyanendra Pandey.

North Zone: Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir (vice-captain), Uday Kaul (wicket-keeper), Akash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Yash Pal Singh, Virat Kohli, Pradeep Sangwan, P. Dogra, Vishal Bhatia, Rajat Bhatia, G. Manpreet, Amit Mishra, Sanjay Badhwar and Vikramjit Malik. Coach: Anuj Pal Das; Manager: Sushil Kapoor; Physio: Badri.

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