Delhi hurdle for Bengal

KOLKATA, April 1: Having been demoted from the Ranji Trophy Elite group, Bengal will be eager to end the season on a high in the National One-dayers for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The first hurdle for Laxmi Ratan Shukla's team will be Ranji champions Delhi in their quarterfinal match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
Delhi will start as favourites. In skipper Gautam Gambhir and fellow-opener Shikhar Dhawan, they have the ammunition to destroy any attack on a given day.The middle-order also wears a formidable look in the presence of India colts skipper Virat Kohli, experienced domestic campaigner Mithun Manhas and youngster Mayank Tehlan.
Bengal's seasoned pace duo of Ranadeb Bose and Shib Shankar Paul will have their task cut out in keeping Gambhir & Co in check.
Ashish Nehra will be making a comeback for Delhi after over a year. It will be a good workout for the former India speedster before he turns out for the Tendulkar led Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Bhandari will complete a three-pronged pace attack, which will test the Bengal batting.
"Ashish is working up decent pace. He is in fine rhythm and I expect him to do well," Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya told TOI over phone from Visakhapatnam. Bengal skipper Shukla feels that he has the players who can help his team put it across Delhi.
"The Ranji (debacle) is a thing of the past. We've to move on. We played well in the East Zone One-dayers. In the Deodhar Trophy our boys who represented East Zone did pretty well. I have faith in the likes of Manoj, Anushtup as well as youngsters like Debabrata Das, Shreevats Goswami," Shukla said. Bengal coach Bharath Arun would be more than satisfied if they can overcome the Delhi hurdle and then go on to make the title round.