Jharkhand hope to step on the gas

Dhanbad:Jharkhand and Kerala have hardly anything in common. While the former have an experienced but underperforming squad at their disposal, the latter can boast of some young exciting talent. While Kerala have so many choices in the pace department that they have tried different combinations in different ties, Jharkhand trust their spinners more. So much so that they played three spinners in their last match in pacer-friendly conditions, with the lone pacer in Ajay Yadav.Perhaps the only thing common between the two sides is a not-so-pleasing start to the Ranji Trophy campaign this season. The hosts go into the match starting on Sunday at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here with four points from two matches; Kerala have six from three.
Below par, in fact, is an understatement when you are talking about the hosts’ performance this season. In their first match, they let Assam off the hook with an all-too-familiar batting collapse after bowling them out cheaply in the first innings. In the end, Assam fancied their chances of an outright win. Things turned worse against Tripura when Jharkhand played three spinners and one pacer in palpably helpful conditions for pacers, and to justify that, this season’s captain Saurabh Tiwary opted to bat first. Minnows Tripura shot them out for less than 150 and it took a monumental double century from Ishank Jaggi to let Jharkhand escape with one point.
Kerala, on the other hand, did well to grab the first-innings lead from Goa in their first match but took so much time in doing it that there was no scope for an outright win. In their second match, against Andhra, a batting that has talented men like Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby, failed twice as Kerala suffered a heavy defeat. Then when captain Baby’s double century gave them a chance to press for victory against Hyderabad, the bowlers could not get through the opponent’s openers.
Comparing the strength of the two sides, the visitors know this is their big chance to grab full points. Being played at the same venue and on the same pitch where Tripura pacers wreaked havoc, Kerala definitely have the upper hand because of Sandeep Warrier and Co. Rituraj Singh, Jharkhand’s new hope in the pace department, missed the last match due to fever. His return should add some teeth to the hosts’ bowling and one hopes it forces them to abandon the tactics of playing three spinners that proved ineffective in the last match. Shahbaz Nadeem, the best of the three, has fever but coach V Venkatram was hopeful on match eve that he would be fit to play.
Jharkhand would need Nadeem’s craft and experience to counter the challenge of in-form Baby, Amit Verma, Nikhilesh Surendran and the like. That the most talented Kerala batsman, Sanju Samson, is due for runs is also not good news for Jharkhand. They should hope Jaggi’s match-saving knock last week becomes an inspiration for the rest of the team.