Spotlight on rival captains

NEW DELHI, February 4: The focus in the Ranji Trophy Group B Super League match between Delhi and Bengal, which begins at the Kotla here tom...

NEW DELHI, February 4: The focus in the Ranji Trophy Group B Super League match between Delhi and Bengal, which begins at the Kotla here tomorrow, will be on the rival captains. It may well be their performance which could determine the fortunes for their respective sides. And both have a point to prove for different reasons.

Bengal skipper Saurav Ganguly has grown beyond everyone8217;s expectations in the last year and-a-half since he made that remarkable debut at the Lord8217;s. His batting feats over the last 18 months against all opposition, on all kinds of wickets and in all types of cricket have installed him the uncrowned Prince of Indian batting. Even after the heavy dose of international cricket, he is still motivated to play in domestic tournaments.

On the other hand, Delhi skipper Ajay Sharma, despite being ignored by the National selectors 8212; even for the A team 8212; after his stupendous batting performances last Ranji season over 1,000 runs, including five centuries, still nurtures hopes of a recall.Although both skippers said their bowling attack was balanced, from the respective line-ups it8217;s clear that batting will be their strength.

The last time the two teams met was also in the Super League, at the Eden Garden last year and Bengal won outright. Then neither Ajay Sharma nor Rahul Sanghvi were available for Delhi as they were in Dhaka with the India A team. quot;We are confident of reversing the result,quot; Ajay Sharma said.

Teams

Delhi from: Ajay Sharma captain, Raman Lamba, Ashu Dani, Aakash Chopra, Akash Malhotra, Mithun Manhas, Vijay Dahiya, Nikhil Chopra, Robin Singh, Ashish Nehra, Rahul Sanghvi and Amit Bhandari.

Bengal from: Saurav Ganguly captain, Syed Saba Karim, Alokendu Lahiri, Devang Gandhi, Ajay Das, Souvik Bannerjee, Subroto Banerjee, Arindam Sarkar, Utpal Chatterjee, Shib Sagar Singh, Gautam Shome Jr, Manish Jolly, Laxmiratan Shukla and Ajay Verma.