Deodhar Trophy, 2019-20: Match 1, India A vs India B: Dream11 Fantasy Cricket Tips – Playing XI, Pitch Report & Injury Update

Match Details:

The 1st game of the Deodhar Trophy 2019-20 will be played between India A and India B at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.

The match starts at 2:30 PM local time (IST) (9:00 AM GMT)

This game will be live on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD. Streaming available on Hotstar.

Preview:

The Deodhar Trophy 2019-20 will kick start on Thursday when India A and India B face off in the day-night game at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi. The squads announced for this tournament are probably the most balanced ones. The three teams featuring in this event are filled with performers from the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy and also the players who are under selectors’ radar.

The India A team will be playing under the captaincy of Hanuma Vihari. The team consists of the leading run-getter of Vijay Hazare – Devdutt Padikkal at the top. The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishan Kishan will be aiming to put on impactful performances to get into Indian limited-overs teams. Parthiv Patel-led India B team are a much stronger side with the presence of capped players in the squad.

Weather Condition/Report:

The JSCA Stadium in Ranchi could be seen under the clouds like it was during the India-South Africa Test match a few days ago. Since this is a day/night match, the bad light issue won’t occur. The weather forecast suggests no rain on Thursday and a full game is possible.

Pitch Condition/Report:

The Ranchi stadium hosted three List A matches in the last five years; all being day/night ODIs. The average score in those three games read 286 and is more likely to be a winning total on Thursday. The track here tends to get slower in the 2nd innings but the dew factor neutralizes that. Anything under 270 could be easy for the team batting second.

Average first innings score: 286 (List A matches in last 5 years)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 1, Lost – 2

Injury and Availability:

(Will be added when there is an update)

Probable Playing XIs:

India A:

Devdutt Padikkal, Vishnu Vinod, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Hanuma Vihari (C), Amandeep Khare, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Warrier, Siddarth Kaul.

Bench – Abhishek Raman, Bhargav Merai, Ravi Bishnoi.

India B:

Parthiv Patel (C & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Priyank Panchal, Baba Aparajith, Nitish Rana, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, K Gowtham, Mohammed Siraj, Rush Kalaria, Yarra Prithviraj.

Bench: Anukul Roy, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kedar Jadhav,

Top Picks:

There are a lot of top-order batsmen in both the teams but few of them are going to be pushed down due to the excessive options. Batting in the middle overs might not be easy for them due to the big boundaries in Ranchi. Among the bowlers, Yarra Prithviraj is the one to watch out for. The Andhra pacer bagged 13 wickets across six innings in Vijay Hazare Trophy at an impressive strike rate of 18.4.

Gujarat’s Rush Kalaria claimed 21 wickets while Siddarth Kaul picked 16 from 8 games but on seam-friendly tracks. Nitish Rana was Delhi’s top run-getter with 311 runs from 8 innings during the VHT 2019/20. He ended up as the team’s 2nd highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets at an average of 18.66. Vishnu Vinod scored three tons in the VHT from 8 games having not touched the 100-run mark even once in List A format before.

Captain and Vice-Captain Selection:

Captain – Hanuma Vihari, Nitish Rana, Vishnu Vinod, Baba Aparajith

Vice-Captain – Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, K Gowtham, Amandeep Khare

Hanuma Vihari has a batting average of 72.75 in Deodhar Trophy across the last two seasons. He scored 291 runs from six innings with help of three fifties in this period.

Suggested Playing XI No.1 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Parthiv Patel

Batters – Devdutt Padikkal, Vishnu Vinod, Nitish Rana

All-Rounders – Baba Aparajith (VC), Hanuma Vihari (C), K Gowtham, Ravichandran Ashwin

Bowlers – Sandeep Warrier, Rush Kalaria, Yarra Prithviraj

Suggested Playing XI No.2 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Ishan Kishan

Batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Priyank Panchal, Vishnu Vinod (VC), Nitish Rana (C)

All-Rounders – K Gowtham, Shahbaz Ahmed, Hanuma Vihari

Bowlers – Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Yarra Prithviraj

Expert Advice:

Predicting India B’s batting line-up will be quite a task with as many as eight players present to fill six spots. Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kedar Jadhav might have to wait for their turn as they had mediocre performances in the Vijay Hazare trophy. One of these two will have a chance if the India B decide to play with only three specialist bowlers considering the bowling options in form of Nitish Rana and Vijay Shankar.

Probable Winners:

India B will be the favourites to win this game as they are more balanced in all departments than India A.

*Disclaimer: This team is based on the understanding, analysis and instinct of the author. While selecting your team, consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.