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Onus on Ganguly and R.P. Singh

Karthik Krishnaswamy

— Photo: K. Pichumani

TIME TO GET GOING: Sourav Ganguly will look to spend quality time in the middle before the Bangalore Test.

Chennai: After a mere day’s break after their first four-day game, India ‘A’ and New Zealand ‘A’ face off again at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

India ‘A’ will be boosted by the presence of Sourav Ganguly and Rudra Pratap Singh in its ranks. The duo will look to gain match practice ahead of the Test series against Australia.

Ganguly’s last match of significance was the third Test against Sri Lanka in August. Having been left out of the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup game last week, he will hope that he spends enough time in the middle here to be ready for the Bangalore Test.

On Thursday afternoon, Ganguly batted at the ‘B’ ground nets at Chepauk for about forty minutes, followed by a catching session with India ‘A’ coach Dav Whatmore. He excused himself from speaking to the press.

Singh skips practice

R.P. Singh did not join Ganguly at practice. Ever since sustaining a hamstring injury in the Adelaide Test against Australia in January, Singh hasn’t found the form he displayed in England last year.

Having bowled 22 overs for no wickets in the Irani Cup, Singh will look to cram a couple of long spells, and definitely a few wickets to raise his confidence.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Dhawal Kulkarni and Ravindra Jadeja, who did not play the first game, may get a chance on Friday, as much to showcase their potential as to give others who endured heavy workloads in the first game a rest.

Changes are also likely in the New Zealand ‘A’ XI. Nineteen-year-old left arm seamer Trent Boult impressed in the first match — his first-class debut — asking multiple-choice questions of the top order with his line. Despite this, he didn’t bowl after lunch in India ‘A’s second innings, indicating that the management was preserving him for the next game.

Strategy

Speaking before the first game, New Zealand ‘A’ coach Mike Hesson suggested that such a strategy could be employed, considering that his players were coming out of winter in New Zealand to play cricket for almost nine straight days in tropical conditions.

This means that Iain O’ Brien, who came into the squad along with Boult to replace Mark Gillespie and Jeetan Patel after the ‘A’ team tri-series, may also get his chance on Friday, alongside all-rounders Grant Elliott and Bradley Scott, and opening bat Martin Guptill.

The teams (from):

India ‘A’: Suresh Raina (capt.), Jaydev Shah, M. Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Sahil Kukreja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ashok Dinda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sudeep Tyagi, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohnish Parmar, Sourav Ganguly, R.P. Singh.

Coach: Dav Whatmore.

New Zealand ‘A’: Peter Fulton (capt.), Brent Arnel, Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Iain O’Brien, Martin Guptill, Greg Hay, Nathan McCullum, James Marshall, Michael Mason, Trent Boult, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Reece Young (wk), B.J. Watling (wk); Coach: Mike Hesson.

Umpires: Sanjeev Rao and S.J. Phadkar; Match referee: D. Vasu.

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