Railways will miss the services of opener Amit Pagnis when they take on Andhra in the Ranji Trophy Elite Division match beginning on Sunday at the Karnail Singh Stadium. The bereaved batsman, whose brother-in-law passed away recently, had requested to be left out for two next Ranji matches. He has already left for Mumbai to be with his family.Railways coach Abhay Sharma confirmed this development to the Sportline on Friday. “Pagnis has left for Mumbai to be with his family. His brother-in-law passed away recently and he asked us to leave him out for two games. We have given him the permission,” Sharma said of the left-hander, who top-scored with a gritty 67 as Railways battled out a draw against Baroda on the final day of their previous match.The coach rued losing Pagnis ahead of the crucial game but added that there was no question of the management holding the player back under such circumstances. It is understood that Dipak Yadav will take Pagnis’s place in the playing eleven. Moreover, there may be another couple of changes to the side that played against Baroda. There would be shuffle in the batting line-up too, with vice-captain Sanjib Sanyal taking over the opening duties from captain Sanjay Bangar, along with Dipak.Fast bowler Anureet Singh, who was dropped for the last game despite snaring six wickets in his debut against Karnataka, will be back for this game.Meanwhile, the hosts are toying with the idea of making it a spinning track this time, as they have in their ranks experienced spinners like Murali Kartik and Kulamani Parida. Karan Sharma may chip in with his effective leg spin and with Dipak joining the squad, he may also come in handy with his part-time off-spin.
