Facelift for domestic T20

But this time,the expected participation of a few big names has given some much-needed star power to a less popular tournament. The north zone leg of the event at Lahli,Haryana on Thursday will see Virender Sehwag,Ishant Sharma,Ashish Nehra and under-19 skipper Unmukt Chand playing for Delhi while international Amit Mishra (Haryana) and IPL’s most-recent posterboy Paul Valthaty (Himachal Pradesh) too can be expected to pull crowds.

The fight to fill the two available berths for knockout stages is likely to revolve between Delhi,Haryana,Punjab and Himachal while Services and Jammu & Kashmir will look to fashion an upset or two. Hosts Haryana will take on Punjab while favourites Delhi will take on Himachal in the second game on the opening day.

Delhi will be banking on its bowlers to help them qualify to the next stage,Himachal it will look to their long-batting order to make a difference. Delhi,struggling with their spin resources on a slow-low pitch,will be hoping that their experienced pacers Ishant,Nehra and Rajat Bhatia will bail them out of trouble.

Meanwhile,Punjab’s new coach Vikram Rathore has opted for a young T20 side,with several IPL regulars and will be hoping to hit their way out of trouble against hosts who will be banking on first-hand knowledge of the pitch where they hold an indomitable record.