Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, February 3: Atul Wassan has pulled out of Delhi’s first Ranji Trophy Group B super league match, to be played against Bengal at the Kotla here from Thursday. The former India medium pacer is recuperating from an attack of asthma and has informed the team management of his inability to assist them in the super league opener.
Wassan had not been attending the team’s preparatory camp which began at the Kotla a week ago. "My doctor has advised me not to exert for a month at least. I have not even been doing my regular exercises," Wassan said today. He had captured 42 wickets last season in Ranji, the highest by a medium pacer.
With the Kotla wicket having taken a drenching after yesterday’s showers, the Delhi thinktank is toying with the idea of playing three spinners (left-arm Rahul Sanghvi, offie Nikhil Chopra and leggie Sandeep Angurala). In that case, Delhi will go into the match with just two medium pacers –Robin Singh and left-arm Ashish Nehra.
The Delhi squad had only a fielding sessionthis morning because of the damp state of the ground. The home team, which lost to Bengal in last year’s super league match at the Eden Garden, is expected to name its playing eleven tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the first batch of four Bengal cricketers arrived in the Capital this morning. The rest of the team, excluding skipper Saurav Ganguly and wicketkeeper Saba Karim, will reach here from Calcutta tomorrow morning. Ganguly and Saba Karim, who were playing in the Abid Ali benefit match in Mumbai are expected to arrive here by air tomorrow.
Former skipper and left-arm spinner Utpal Chatterjee, batsman Devang Gandhi, all-rounder Subroto Banerjee and Ajay Das were among the members of the Bengal team who reached here via Mumbai after playing in the Deodhar Trophy match in Goa.
