Chandigarh set for Elite debut; face Haryana in Vijay Hazare opener

KOLKATA: Into their second domestic season, Chandigarh will get first-hand experience of playing in the Elite Group, when they open their

Vijay Hazare Trophy

campaign against neighbours Haryana in a Group E clash in Kolkata on Sunday.

Ahead of their departure to the Bengal capital city, skipper Manan Vohra and coach VRV Singh had exuded confidence in the squad, with the latter asserting that there are many experienced campaigners in the team, and it will be a good learning curve for the youngsters.

Having said that, Chandigarh will have to deal with two India internationals in leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and paceman Mohit Sharma, in the opposition camp. That also means the margin of error will be negligible for the UT batting line-up, that boasts of experienced campaigners in skipper Manan Vohra himself, alongside veteran stumper Uday Kaul, and the all-round pair of Bipul Sharma and Gurinder Singh.

It will be interesting to see how Chandigarh’s young guns Shivam Bhambri, Arslan Khan, Raman Bishnoi and Ankit Kaushik, approach a relatively strong bowling attack of the Haryana side.

Shivam was in brilliant form in the recently-held Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, where he smashed three consecutive half centuries, and will aim to carry that form to the 50-over format.

Meanwhile, the UT bowling attack will be bolstered by the return of lead pacer Shresth Nirmohi, who missed the SMAT after having tested asymptomatic for Covid-19. Shresth will have in company Jaskaran Singh with the new ball, while the spin department will be manned by left-armers Bipul and Gurinder.

On the other hand, Haryana will look for an early momentum, and will bank on the likes of Himanshu Rana, Rahul Tewatia, Sumit Kumar, and Chaitanya Bishnoi to ignite the stage.

Squads

Chandigarh: Manan Vohra (C), Arpit Pannu, Arslan Khan, Shivam Bhambri, Bipul Sharma, Raman Bishnoi, Gaurav Gambhir, Gaurav Puri, Gurinder Singh, Jagjit Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Jaskaranvir Singh, Sarul Kanwar, Uday Kaul (WK), Ankit Kaushik, Bhagmender Lather, Amrit Lubana, Kunal Mahajan, Mandeep Singh, Shresth Nirmohi

Haryana: Ankit Kumar, Ashok Sandhu, Jaideep Bhambhu, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Ajit Chahal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Pramod Chandila, Arun Chaprana, Ashish Hooda, Nitesh Hooda, Kapil Hooda, Armaan Jain, Aman Kumar, Tinu Kundu, Sanjay Pahal, Himanshu Rana, Shubham Rohilla, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Shivam Chauhan.