Delhi banks on Kohli and seamers to see them through

NEW DELHI - Hosts Delhi will be banking on Virat Kohli and a seaming surface when they take on defending champions Mumbai in a must-win match for a quarterfinal spot in the Ranji Trophy Super League at the Roshanara Club here Wednesday.

The two teams have long enjoyed a healthy rivalry with several of their matches going down the wire. And Mumbai want to ensure that the legacy is maintained despite being already through to the quarterfinals.

Delhi made the going tough for themselves after their shocking 22-run loss to the Railways in the last match. But the return of Kohli and also captain Mithun Manhas, who pulled out of the previous game due to a groin strain, has bolstered the home team. Delhi will now be looking to notch up an outright win.

A first-innings lead will leave Delhi’s fate hanging on the hope that at least one of two other matches - Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat and Bengal vs Railways - ends in a draw. In pool A, Tamil Nadu are at the second place with 14 points while Delhi are at third position with 13.

Gujarat also have 13 points but are behind at the fourth place on the basis of run rate. They need an outright win against Tamil Nadu to fancy their chances.

Delhi left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra is still doubtful due to an calf injury and coach Manoj Prabhakar is toying with the idea of fielding a four-pronged seam attack.

“It is a must win match for us and we will be going all out. The toss is going to be crucial. We have got a green track for our seamers. The players are aware what mistakes they made during their loss to the Railways and have worked on them. The return of Virat Kohli has also boosted the morale of side,” Prabhakar said.

“Mumbai are a good side. The return of Ajit Agarkar will add to their pace attack.”

Mumbai coach Pravin Amre said they are not sitting easy and would like to enter the knockout stage with a win. Their attack comprising Agarkar and Aavishkar Salvi will be penetrating on the seaming surface and could spell trouble for the Delhi batsmen.

“Delhi need an outright win, which means it will be a result-oriented match which augurs well. We would definitely like to enter the knockout stage with a win. It is also a good opportunity for us to screen the youngsters,” said Amre, a former India batsman.

“We have rested Romesh Powar. Agarkar, who did not play in the last match, and Ajinkya Rahane are back. It should be a good contest as both the teams play hard cricket.”

The teams (from):

Delhi: Mithun Manhas (captain), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Unmukt Chand, Gaurav Chhabra, Puneet Bisht, Sumit Narwal, Rajat Bhatia, Pawan Suyal, Pradeep Sangwan, Manoj Chauhan, Vikas Mishra, Yogesh Nagar, Mayank Tehlan and Parwinder Awana

Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Sahil Kukreja, Omkar Gurav, Iqbal Abdullah, Avishkar Salvi, Praful Waghela, Suryakumar Yadav, Harmeet Singh, Moondeep Mangela, Santosh Shinde, Prashant Naik and Swapnil Salvi.

Umpires: S. K. Tarapore and N. R. S. Prabhu; Match Referee: Raju Mukherji. Umpires coach: C. R. Vijayaraghavan.