In their bid to log full points at home, hosts Delhi will be taking on Haryana on a grassy Roshnara track in their fourth Group A League encounter of the Ranji Trophy starting on Thursday.
With Ishant Sharma back in the squad, Delhi in all likelihood will field a battery of fast bowlers against Haryana, who are led by paceman Harshal Patel.
Apart from Ishant, Parvinder Awana and Ashish Nehra are suppose to form a three-pronged attack with Rajat Bhatia complementing them. In case Nehra needs rest, it could be either Sumit Narwal or Pawan Suyal filling in his place.
Delhi are currently in seventh position with three points from three matches, while Haryana are placed fifth with six points from three outings.
While skipper Gautam Gambhir has shown some signs of returning to form with twin fifties against Mumbai, Virender Sehwag would like to get one substantial knock under his belt after having scored only 60 in four innings so far.
Having been dropped from the BCCI Annual Contracts’ List, it is an ideal platform for Sehwag to remind the selectors that he can still be a match-winner on a given day.
For Delhi, it has been a rough ride so far with first match against Jharkhand being a complete wash-out, followed by a narrow first innings lead conceded to Gujarat in the second away game.
The match against defending champions Mumbai was an exciting one where the first innings scores were tied, which meant that Delhi got a point each from all three games.
Delhi’s batting has been dependent largely on veteran Mithun Manhas, who has a scored century in both away games.
Former India U-19 skipper Unmukt Chand also showed signs of returning to form with a second innings hundred, although the match had ended as a contest by that time.
The toss-up for the spinner’s slot will be between Varun Sood and Manan Sharma, with the latter having an edge due to better batting credentials.
For Haryana, a lot will depend on how their seamers perform in the absence of spearhead Mohit Sharma, who is currently on national duty.
