Indian cricket may be bristling with life against Sri Lanka, but, for the rest it will be a fresh beginning in the Duleep Trophy flood-light cricket with pink ball at the Ekana Stadium here from Thursday.
Even though it sprang suddenly as the season-opener, any First Class cricket is welcome for the aspirants who are keen to be ready when called for national duty.
It does not matter that the matches are not telecast or that a mere handful of spectators come to watch the action. “There is no crowd for domestic cricket. We are quite used to it,” said Dinesh Karthik who will be leading India Red team in the absence of Abhinav Mukund reportedly down with dengue.
Karthik said that Prithvi Shaw and Varun Aaron were the replacements for Abhinav Mukund and Dhawal Kulkarni from the original team.
Parthiv Patel, the captain of India Green, was quite happy to face the “big challenge of pink ball” cricket. “Not many have played pink ball. It was played last year. We have to get used to pink and see how it is,” said Parthiv.
Good idea
Quite enthused by the new system of making balanced teams with a bunch of 45 players irrespective of their zonal allegiance, Parthiv said that it was a good idea to give a chance to the best players to stay in the reckoning for national selection.
“In the zonal system, there used to be about 75 players, and now we have 45,” he said as a matter of fact.
Irrespective of the system, it is a platform for the hopefuls to assert their class and stake claim in the higher echelons of the game, not worrying about the ‘loyalty’ factor. “It is the start of the domestic season. It is the cream of Indian talent, and they all want to do their best,” said Parthiv.
“DuleepTrophy has always been important. The season-opener sets the trend for you and it gives you an indication of form and fitness. Almost everyone who performed well last season has been picket for this edition and it is time for them to show their mettle and be ready for the season,” Parthiv elaborated.
More than the players, the stadium will be put to a stringent test, albeit only by the two teams. The pitch and outfield looked top class, but there was plenty of work to be done on the stadium before it is showcased to the world. At the moment, it is an oasis in the desert, with its green turf.
The first four-day match here will be followed by the game between India Red and India Blue in Kanpur, and then, by Blue versus Green. The final, a five-day match, is scheduled to be played here from Sept. 25.
The teams (from):
India Red: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Priyank Panchal, Sudip Chatterjee, Ishank Jaggi, A. Rayudu, Rishabh Pant (wk), B. Indrajith, K. Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Basil Thampi, Varun Aaron, Ashoke Dinda, Rahul Singh, C.V. Milind and Prithvi Shaw.
India Green: Parthiv Patel (captain), M. Vijay, R. Samarth, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, Ankit Bawane, Shahbaz Nadeem, Parvez Rasool, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Dagar, Nitin Saini, Aniket Choudhary.
Umpires: Anil Dhandekar and Viren Sharma. Match Referee: Chinmaya Sharma.
Play starts at 1.30 p.m.
