New Delhi, Nov 30 (Inditop.com) Delhi are likely to field a four-pronged pace attack on a lively track for their Ranji Trophy Super League tie against Saurashtra at the Roshanara Club Tuesday.
The return of Ashish Nehra will give a fillip to the Delhi pace battery which also include Pradeep Sangwan, Sumit Narwal, Pavinder Awana and newcomer Pawan Suyal.
Experienced middle order batsman Mithun Manhas, who was ruled out due to an injured groin, will also return to the side for his first match of the season.
The home team will be eager to bounce back after their innings and 22-run defeat at the hands of Uttar Pradesh in the last match.
Delhi is languishing at the penultimate place in Group B with four points and no win to show in three matches.
Delhi will again miss injured opener and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan, who has been ruled out for three weeks due to a thumb injury.
The home team will also be without captain Akash Chopra, who is getting married.
In Chopra’s absence, young Virat Kohli, whose dogged 145-runs against Uttar Pradesh was the only high point in an ordinary batting performance, will lead the side.
On the other hand, Saurashtra will be looking to go for their first win this season after all its three matches failed to produce a result. Batting has been their strength with run machine Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored three triple centuries last season, back among runs after a knee injury.
Pujara, who was ruled out for nearly six months due to the injury, smashed an unbeaten double century in his comeback match against Maharashtra.
In fact, in his last match at this ground two years ago, Pujara had batted the whole day to defy Delhi a win.
Saurashtra openers Chirag Pathak and Sagar Jogiyani have hit centuries in their last match against Bengal.
Left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has shown promise in the middle-order and was equally effective with the ball claiming four wickets in the first innings against Bengal.
In the bowling, medium pacer Sandeep Jobanputra and Sandip Maniar will play a crucial role for Saurashtra.
Squads:
Delhi (from): Virat Kohli (captain), Ankur Julka, Mithun Minhas, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht, Ashish Nehra, Sumit Narwal, Parvinder Awana, Pradeep Sangwan, Pawan Suyal, Vikas Mishra, Mayank Tehlan, Gaurav Chhabra, Abhishek Kapoor, Aditya Jain.
Saurashtra (from): Jaidev Shah (captain), Sagar Jogiyani, Chirag Pathak, Shitanshu Kotak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Rakesh Dhurv, Sandeep Jobenputra, Sandip Maniar, Balakrishna Jadeja, Jayesh Odedra, Kamlesh Makvana, Sheldon Jackson, Pratik Mehta, Vishal Joshi.
Umpires: Suresh Shastri (Mumbai), Vilas Bandiwadekar (Mumbai)
Match referee: Shakti Singh (Himachal Pradesh)
