Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 29: Hosts Orissa will have their task cut out when they take on table-toppers Delhi in their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter at the KIIT Cricket Stadium here Friday. Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi are currently sitting pretty in Group A with 15 points from four games while Orissa are languishing sixth in the nine-team pool with eight points from three matches .
But even then, the hosts will definitely be a force to reckon with for a couple of different reasons. First because the match is being played on an unknown track which will be hosting its first Ranji Trophy tie. The law of average states that a virgin pitch always favours the underdog.
Secondly Delhi are coming off a drawn and controversial encounter with Bengal where they conceded a first innings lead at home while Orissa defeated Assam outright to bring some momentum back into their 2015-16 campaign. Also Delhi will be without one of their main batting strengths – Unmukt Chand – who will be playing for the Board President’s XI. That certainly will affect their batting to some extent.
Both sides had a look at the KIIT pitch, Thursday during their training sessions and termed it a ‘sporting wicket’. “It will have equal assistance for both bowlers and batsman,” stated Orissa skipper Biplab Samantray. “There will be carry initially and later on, there will also be something for the spinners. Also with the ball having a nice carry, the batsman will be able to play their shots,” he added.
Orissa are yet to decide on their final XI, but Biplab hinted that they may drop a pacer to bring in a spinner. “In the last match, we played with four pacers, keeping in mind the nature of the pitch. Here however, we think that there will be some assistance later in the game for spinners. So we might bring in a tweaker instead of pacer,” stated Biplab.
