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This is an archive article published on December 24, 2004

A blessing in disguise?

The 8216;resting8217; of VVS Laxman, though debatable, may not have come at a better time for his state team. After losing their last two ...

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The 8216;resting8217; of VVS Laxman, though debatable, may not have come at a better time for his state team. After losing their last two games on the sporting Gymkhana pitch, Hyderabad now look up to Laxman to provide that winning formula with his silken touch. And he didn8217;t disappoint, following his 79 in the first innings with an unbeaten 59 in the second.

Not Gambhir enough
Gautam Gambhir seems to have left his form behind in Chittagong where he scored his maiden Test ton just a few days back. His 29 against Bengal was woefully short of expectations, but the form of Test discard Amit Bhandari 5/55 with the ball was a bonus for Delhi.

Another surprise packet
After their Mumbai battering, Gujarat had to do some introspection. It may have something to do with Niraj Patel8217;s loss of form and injuries to Parthiv Patel and Mukund Parmar, but against MP, their surprise packet was Kirat Damani. His 142 has put Gujarat in a good position despite Sunil Dholpure8217;s five-for.

Boys from Bangladesh
While on the subject of Bangladesh-returned players, Gagandeep Singh and SS Paul 8212; the two bowlers who didn8217;t get a look in 8212; were both in action for their respective state teams. At the end of the day, the Punjab bowler 2/40 was a shade better than the Bengal pacer 1/60. Dinesh Kaarthick, meanwhile, had a good day, catching two and stumping one for Tamil Nadu.

Continuing the good work
Players like Tamil Nadu8217;s Rajamani Jesuraj, Andhra8217;s Y Venugopala Rao and UP8217;s Suresh Raina continued the good work as they put in another day of fruitful work in their respective games. Venu, especially, has been in superb form with both bat and ball and didn8217;t disappoint today either.

 

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