In crucial encounter,Delhi look to trouble Pujara & Co with pace

There was a sense of familiarity when Cheteshwar Pujara walked into the Roshanara ground on Monday morning.

There was a sense of familiarity when Cheteshwar Pujara walked into the Roshanara ground on Monday morning. A couple of years ago,in a similar winter haze,he had batted all day long with Sandeep Jobanputra to deny Delhi an outright win. Those were the initial chapters of the Pujara story,in which his temperament shines through as his strongest asset. He has rehearsed them on several occasions since then,both before and after his injury layoff.

Delhi is well prepared to welcome Pujaras Saurashtra this time,teasing him to remove the flat-track-bully label that some of his critics attach. The blades of grass on the pitch have seen only subtle rolling for this match,and the start time has been advanced to 9.15 am in order to use the early moisture. Though Delhis request for the release of Ishant Sharma has been turned down by Team India,the entry of Ashish Nehra will be a boost for this Group B encounter.

Under new skipper Virat Kohli,who will be the youngest player to lead Delhi,the hosts are desperate for full points on a green pitch against a team that also boasts of Shitanshu Kotaks stamina,Ravindra Jadejas all-round prowess,and the in-from opening duo of Chirag Pathak and Sagar Jogiyani.

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But Delhis intentions are laced with a sense of bravado,especially when their batting smacks of inexperience with Aakash Chopra unavailable due to his wedding and Shikhar Dhawan injured. The hosts will hand the third fresh cap of the season to Ankur Julka,and Kohli,who has also recovered from an injured ring finger,will form the batting core along with Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia.

The hopes,instead,will be on with their four quicks Nehra,Sumit Narwal,Parwinder Awana and Pradeep Sangwan in what is expected to be a straight fight between Delhis pace attack and Saurashtras batting solidity. Nehra was absent from the team training after feeling unwell but will figure in the XI on Tuesday.

Saurashtra have their own pace attack,which has helped the team get seven points so far but without an outright victory. Jobanputra,Balakrishna Jadeja and Sandeep Maniar will be the main bowling options,along with off-spinner Kamlesh Makhwana.

Given the conditions,the toss will remain vital,and the team that wins it can be expected to field first,especially considering the Delhi-Karnataka game,in which bad light had stopped play with the visitors needing a handful of runs to win after paceman R Vinay Kumar ran through Delhi on the first day.

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Delhi require full points in their last three games to be in contention for the quarter-finals,and any further lapses could see them battling relegation.