*Tiwari, Nadeem, Jaggi star attractions
Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, Nov 1: The unprepared Jammu and Kashmir Ranji trophy team which as per the customary practice has been selected just one day earlier, will lock horns with spirited Jharkhand boys who will be brimming with confidence, especially after their star players Saurabh Tiwari and Ishank Jaggi having slammed fabulous centuries in the recently held Duleep trophy, while representing East Zone. The teams will be taking on each other at GGM Science College Hostel grounds, here tomorrow.
Though, it seems to be the battle of equals as both the teams are almost equally balanced with respect to talent, skill, past record and composition, yet Jharkhand will enjoy a slight edge in presence of skipper Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwari, Ishank Jaggi and Rahul Shukla, who have International or national exposure.
While, on the one hand, Jharkhand bowling department, in absence of genuine quick bowler Varun Aaron, who is not available for this match, will revolve round speedster Rahul Shukla, who plays for Mumbai Indians and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who recently came back from South Africa while representing Delhi Daredevils, J&K, on the other hand has a battery of four pace bowlers in skipper Samiullah Beigh, Ram Dayal (Vice Captain), Abid Nabi and Mohd Muddasir, who may not be in the playing XI, while off-spinner Parvez Rasool, who also is an accomplished middle order batsman and one among right-arm wrist spinner Manik Gupta and left-arm spinner Aamir Aziz are the certainties.
In the department of batting, J&K will be banking on the last year’s performer Ian Dev Singh, promising Parvez Rasool, former skipper Hardeep Singh and consistent Adil Reshi, while Arshid Bhat and Dhruv Mahajan, who have the ability to score big runs will also try their level best to prove a point.
Jharkhand, on the other hand, has a talented bunch of youngsters in Saurabh Tiwari, Ishank Jaggi and consistent Manish Vardhan to takle the J&K bowlers.
The conditions in Jammu are almost similar to that of Jharkhand. For that matter, the team which will hold its nerves better in the crunch situations will be the winner.
Moreover, it will be the test of skill between two Delhiites, chief coach J&K, legendary Bishen Singh Bedi and coach director Jharkhand, Tariq Sinha.
The teams:
Jammu & Kashmir: Samiullah Beigh (Captain), Ram Dayal, Ian Dev Singh, Parvez Rasool, Dhruv Mahajan, Bandeep Singh, Manish Dogra, Adil Reshi, Arshid Bhat (WK) Hardeep Singh, Abid Nabi, Mohd Muddasir, Manik Gupta and Aamir Aziz.
Chief coach: Bishen Singh Bedi, Manager: Sunit Sharma, former joint secretary JKCA, Joint Manager: Ishfaq Ahmed and Assistant coach: Abdul Qyoom.
Jharkhand: Shahbaz Nadeem (Captain), Ishank Jaggi, Saurabh Tiwari, Monish Vardhan, Rameez Nimat, SP Gautam (WK), Deepak Chougle, Amir Hashmi, Kumar Deobrat, SS Rao, Rahul Shukla, Jaskaran Singh, Ajay Yadav, Samar Qadri and Sunny Gupta.
Coach Director: Tariq Sinha, Coach: Tarit Ghosh, Manager: Dr Dinesh Upadayay and Assistant Satish Singh.
Match Referee: Dhan Sukh Patel (Gujarat) Umpire: Srinath (Tamil Nadu) and Ulhas V Gandhe (VCA) Scorers: Ashwani Sharma (J&K) and Rakesh Bakshi (HP).
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