JOIN USHigh flying Air India start firm favourites
The match was originally scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam, but authorities decided to shift it to the City because of the incessant rain there.
On paper, Air India are a far superior outfit, and the form they displayed during the league stages was nothing short of exceptional.
Never for once did State Bank of Patiala, Customs and Excise or All India Electricity Board manage to stretch them in Group ‘C’, from which Air India qualified with an all-win record. The performances of their top-order batsmen has been the most influential factor in their stupendous run in the tournament so far.
The opening combination of Robin Uthappa and Paul Valthaty, apart from a failure in their inconsequential match against SBP, provided Air India with rollicking starts, also crushing the morale of the opposition in the nascent stages of the match itself.
However, Air India proved emphatically in their last league match on Saturday that their batting does not revolve only around the two big-hitters. The match against SBP offered a glimpse of their depth in batting. Uthappa and Valthaty perished early, but skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Mohammad Kaif used their vast expereince to bail Air India out with doughty knocks.
Orissa’s Rashmi Ranjan Parida, who bats at no 6, has been the chameleon for Air India. The veteran batsman has showed a streak of innovativeness when required, but slipped into his more familiar role of a calming presence at other times. Laxman’s availablity for the semis has only added to their batting might, and it could be big worry for IOC.
The defending champions do not have any fancied names in their bowling line-up, with Madhya Pradesh medium-pacer Anand Rajan being their primary weapon. The 23-year old had taken 19 wickets from five Plate League matches last season, but Rajan does not enjoy much support here, unless pacer Rohan Raje can strike some form on the morrow.
On the contrary, IOC’s batting offers a brighter picture with the likes of the prolific Wasim Jaffer, high-scoring Uttar Pradesh batsman Ravikant Shukla and Baroda skipper Pinal Shah. It is their batting that has them to the semifinals, and they will perforce require an encore against a set of high-on-confidence three-pronged pace attack comprising Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddharth Trivedi and Delhi left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan.
The troika has served the former champions well in the league stages, bending their backs to purchase appreciable bounce from a largely lifeless pitch to trouble batsmen. Air India’s spin deparment wears a thinner look, but offie Ajit Chandela, man of the match against AIEB for his four-wicket haul, and 18-year-old left-arm spinner Pawan Negi can be quite a handful on their day.
The winner will face State Bank of Hyderabad, a 108-run winner over Comptroller and Auditor General in Monday’s first semifinal in Chennai, in the final here on Thursday.
Hours of play: 0900-1230 hours and 1315-end of play.