Mighty Air India hold edge

Former champions take on State Bank of Hyderabad in final today

But in the semifinal, Indian Oil Corporation showed that the mighty can be shaken out of their comfort zone.

Air India hardly resembled the confident unit of the league matches, stuttering to a three-wicket win against IOC here on Monday. Their top-order batsmen, barring skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar, showed a disturbing tendency to panic when the opposition came hard at them. State Bank of Hyderabad, Air India’s opponents in the title clash on Thursday, will look to exploit that hint of vulnerability at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

The Bankmen, filled with some quality players, have the wherewithal to cash in on any weakness, and Air India will perforce have to nullify SBH’s new-ball bowlers. The 21-year-old Duvvarapu Shivakumar, a member of India U-19 squad that won the World Cup in Malaysia in 2008, and 40-year old Tangirala Pawan Kumar have put behind the difference in their age to strike an excellent new-ball combination, grabbing 11 wickets among them.

The job to tackle them will be on openers Robin Uthappa, who needs to convert his starts into more substantial scores, and the  hard-hitting Paul Valthaty. A good start will reduce the pressure on Kanitkar, the tournament top-scorer with 217 runs at an impressive 108.50, Mohammad Kaif and veteran Rashmi Ranjan Parida, all of whom have chipped in at various stages to facilitate Air India’s entry into the final, and they will have to be at their best on the morrow. Medium-pacer Ashwin Yadav too has showed glimpses of his ability in the tournament, bagging five wickets from three matches, and Air India’s task is cut out against a set of in-form SBH bowlers.

Air India will also have to deal with the off-spin of Tirumalasetti Suman, who has bagged seven wickets from three matches, and that the right-hander has been in good form with the bat will not be taken pleasantly by them. The form of Suman the bowler will be a big worry for Air India because they found the going tough against IOC spinners Rajesh Pawar and Paresh Patel in the semis.

Suman’s brilliant hundred was the cornerstone of SBH’s massive 108-run win over CAG in the semifinal in Chennai on Monday in a match where he also bagged three wickets. B Sumanth has been consistent throughout the tournament, though a big score has eluded him so far, and Anoop Pai too found his range in the semifinal with a controlled fifty.

So, it’s an even contest in the batting department, but Air India hold a slight edge in bowling. Pacers Dhawal Kulkarni, Pradeep Sangwan and Siddharth Trivedi have served Air India well in the tournament. Left-arm seamer Sangwan is the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets along with off-spinning team-mate Ajit Chandela.

Kulkarni and Trivedi do not have the numbers to show, but they have been frugal in their ways. All-rounder Rajat Bhatia is yet to contribute siginificantly with the bat, but he has compensated with economical spells.


Teams (from):
Air India: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt), Robin Uthappa, Paul Valthaty, Mohammad Kaif, Rajat Bhatia, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Ajit Chandela, Pawan Negi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pradeep Sangwan, Siddharth Trivedi, Naman Ojha, Sachin Rana, Harmeet Singh, Manvinder Bisla.
SBH: Daniel Manohar (capt), T Suman, Anoop Pai, B Sumanth, Anirudh Singh, Akash Bhandari, Syed Quadri, T Pawan Kumar, D Shivkumar, Vishal Sharma, Ashwin Yadav, VVS Laxman, Alfred Absolom, Khushal Jilla, M Srinivas.
Umpires: Amiesh Saheba, Shamsuddin. Third umpire: Nandan. Match referee: Pranab Roy.
Timing: 0900-1230 and 1.15 to end of play (Live on Neo Cricket).