Ranji146;s green revolution

While the pitch debate in the country continues, the domestic circuit seems to be undergoing a change that could set the tone for future cri...

While the pitch debate in the country continues, the domestic circuit seems to be undergoing a change that could set the tone for future cricket to be played on more competitive tracks.

On Saturday, only two matches in the third round of the Ranji Trophy yielded results: Hyderabad defeated Maharashtra Elite 8216;B8217; by 85 runs and Vidarbha defeated Tripura Plate 8216;B8217; by six wickets. Both Hyderabad and Vidarbha won at home, and both teams had prepared greentops that gave the hosts and the visitors equal chance of winning.

The day8217;s honours went to a 31-year-old, once considered a prime India prospect, a 22-year-old playing his second match and a part time medium-pacer who has of late begun 8216;8216;working hard8217;8217; on his bowling.

For Hyderabad, veteran Narendra Pal Singh scalped six wickets 8212; added to his four in the first 8212; to dismiss Maharashtra in the second innings.

For Maharashtra, newcomer Anupam Sanklecha, winner of Pune8217;s Scorpio Speedster hunt for fast bowlers, finished with a match-haul of nine wickets. And Vidarbha8217;s top-order batsman Alind Naidu he says he8217;s been working really hard on his bowling captured six wickets in the second innings to send Tripura packing.

While the figures differed, the common consensus reached by all the three bowlers was that the wicket was very good. 8216;8216;There should be such tracks. They are good for batting too. One has to only get used to it,8217;8217; the experienced Singh said.

8216;8216;We don8217;t get to see many such tracks8217;8217;, said Hyderabad skipper Venkatapathy Raju. 8216;8216;But they provide an equal opportunity to both teams, which makes the game interesting.8217;8217;

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Maharashtra coach Paras Mhambrey had words of praise for the pitch, despite the defeat. 8216;8216;The Hyderabad track was good and Anupam Sanklecha did an exceptional job. Our batsmen just failed to apply themselves,8217;8217; he said.

Vidarbha, of course, play their matches at Nagpur, the centre of the controversy during the Australia series. VCA president Shashank Manohar is a committed advocate of green pitches 8212; even, he says, at the cost of his team8217;s performance.

Well, his team have backed up his forward thinking, notching up their second consecutive victory at home. 8216;8216;We are still not fully comfortable on this track, we8217;re gradually settling8217;8217;, said Naidu, the player of the day.

8216;8216;But if you ask me, we are enjoying getting a feel of it.8217;8217;

Brief Scores

	nbsp;	IN KANPUR Assam: 184 and 107 lost to UP: 132 and 163-2 Suresh Raina 89 n.o, Jyoti Yadav 61. Points: UP 4 Assam 0 IN HYDERABAD Hyderabad: 231 and 171-9 Saklecha 5-46 vs Maharashtra: 83 and 233 Dheeraj Jadhav 124 n.o, Satyajit Satbhai 43, N P Singh 6-87, Shahnawaz 2-34. Points: Hyderabad 4 Maharashtra 0 IN MUMBAI Mumbai: 515-9 decl vs Andhra: 116 M S K Prasad 32, Sairaj Bahutule 3-43 and 133-4 Amit Pathak 59 batting, Nilesh Kulkarni 4-32 IN MOHALI Punjab: 175 and 370-4 D Mongia 108, Dharmani batting 92, A Kakkar batting 90 vs Baroda: 155 IN DELHI Delhi: 216 and 101-1 Shikhar Dhawan batting 55, Aakash Chopra 31 vs Railways: 201 Siddharth Verma 44 n.o, Bhandari 3-55, Gill 3-48, Sanghvi 2-37. IN BANGALORE Karnataka: 619-5 decl vs MP: 296-4 Dholpure 107, A. Khurasia 45, Abbas Ali batting 51. IN SILIGURI Bengal: 298 and 161/3 R Gavaskar 68 not out vs Gujarat 361 MH Parmar 68; Bose 6/75.	nbsp;