‘Do or die’ for UT boys for their dream run campaign against star studded Saurashtra today
Chandigarh, With 18 points on the points table, skipper Manan Vohra led the Chandigarh team will carry out its dream run and will take on Saurashtra in a vital match of Ranji Trophy on Wednesday. However, the visitors are still deprived of their first win. In the four matches played so far, the 2022-23 Ranji champions are almost out of contention from the knockout round with two losses and two draws. Meanwhile, it is a do or die situation for UTCA which came into existence five years ago. A win means, sure shot safe passage to the knock-out stage from the Elite Group D.
Both the teams toil hard on net and ground practice at the GMSSS-26 ground, the venue for D-day. Saurashtra team captained by Jaydev Unadkat will miss their key element Indian Test player Cheteshwar Pujara. Unadkat had national caps for four Test matches while the other four others in the camp – Harvik Desai, Sheldon Jackson, Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad have IPL exposure. The team will try to save the dignity from its existence since 1950 by forgetting its past performance in the tournament and reaching a respectable position in the points table.
UTCA selectors Ravindra Nain and Parveen Sharma have also expressed satisfaction over the team’s performance so far. According to them, changes can be made according to the pitch condition, otherwise the team is balanced. 20-year-old Nishank Birla, who took 12 wickets in the last match, is a trump card for the team. Birla is currently in the top 5 position in the tournament with 28 wickets. The duo of Jagjit Sandhu and Vishu is aptly supporting him in the middle. In the batting department, the team is heavily dependent on the top order – Shivam Bhambri, Arsalan Khan, Manan Vohra and others, for which the team needs a solid opening.
