Keen encounters likely in Ranji quarterfinals
From 27, the figure was brought down to 15
Partab Ramchand
29-Mar-2000
From 27, the figure was brought down to 15. And now that figure in
turn has been whittled down to six. It's been a long, hard campaign
which now enters the home stretch. And the knock out stage of the
Ranji Trophy championship commences with two quarterfinals on Thursday
- Tamil Nadu playing Punjab at Chennai and Uttar Pradesh taking on
Hyderabad at Kanpur. Oft crowned champions Mumbai and reigning
champions Karnataka have earned byes into the semifinals. Mumbai await
the winners of the Tamil Nadu - Punjab game while the winners of the
Hyderabad - UP match play Karnataka in the semifinals.
There is little doubt that the six teams remaining in the competition
have earned the right to compete for the trophy. There were times it
seemed when Karnataka and Hyderabad would not make it but they fought
their way back after unimpressive starts in the Super League to make
the grade. UP were always in the running for a spot in the knock out
stage after a pretty impressive showing in the Super League, though
the fact remains that they finished third in the Central Zone
league. As regards Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Punjab there was never any
doubt as to these teams making the grade. Not only did they finish on
top in their respective zones, they went on to comfortably finish
winners in their group in the Super League too.
Which is why the draw for the knock out stage seems uneven. Mumbai,
Tamil Nadu and Punjab are in one half and the other half consists of
Hyderabad, UP and Karnataka. Given their performances so far in the
zonal league and the Super League, there is little doubt that the
Tamil Nadu - Punjab tie will generate far greater interest.
Tamil Nadu won the South Zone championship with 31 points from five
games. They then went on to top Group C in the Super League with 26
points from four matches. Matching them however in this regard are
Punjab, which won the North Zone championship with 34 points from five
games. They then went on top group B in the Super League with 24
points from four games. Not much to choose between the two teams
really and it remains to be seen how effective the home advantage will
be for Tamil Nadu.
Even the composition of the teams points to an engrossing
tussle. Punjab's batting is strong and all their main run getters -
Ravneet Ricky, skipper Vikram Rathour, Pankaj Dharmani, Dinesh Mongia,
Youraj Singh and RS Sodhi have been in consistent form. The bowling
in the hands of medium pacers Sandeep Sharma and Gagandeep Singh and
spinners Sharandeep Singh and Harbhajan Singh have also been among the
wickets. All in all, they are a well balanced side.
But then they are up against a Tamil Nadu side who are having a very
good run. Their batting is no less formidable with the likes of
Aashish Kapoor, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Sridharan Sharath, Hemang Badani,
Sridharan Sriram and Robin Singh in good form. They also bat in depth
with JR Madanagopal, Rajath Bhatia, Reuben Paul, Sadagoppan Mahesh and
J Gokulakrishna all part of the latter order. Only in their last Super
League game against UP, Sriram got 288 - a knock which saw him
pitchforked into the Indian team - and Sharath scored 205. The
bowling, manned by Kumaran, Gokulakrishna, Mahesh, Kapoor, Sriram and
Bhatia, is no less impressive.
The other quarterfinal should also be a keen encounter, though UP have
the home advantage which could prove crucial. On form there is very
little to choose between the teams. For Hyderabad, Mohd. Azharuddin,
VVS Laxman, A Nandakishore, Vanka Pratap and P Satwalkar have been
among the runs. Medium pacer NP Singh has consistently been picking up
the wickets and spinners Venkatapathi Raju and Kanwaljit Singh can be
a handful. UP's strength lies in the bowling which is manned by AW
Zaidi, Sallabh Srivastava and skipper Gyanendra Pandey. The batting,
with Pandey, R Shamsad, Md Kaif, Manoj Mudgal and S Shukla around, is
in capable hands.