Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Quarter-finals - Preview

Ranji Trophy 2016-17 has reached the business end of the season. The quarter-finals are round the corner and the top 8 teams are geared up to reach a step closer to the coveted trophy. The teams finishing at the bottom position in their groups have been relegated. Chhattisgarh, Railways and Assam being the victims. The teams of Haryana, Odisha, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu made it to the quarter-finals.

The action kicks off on December 23 at neutral venues. Tamil Nadu faces Karnataka in the big clash at Visakhapatnam. Mumbai will lock horns with Hyderabad at Raipur. The two matches that do not boast of any big heavyweight teams but have managed to grab the eyeballs this season will be the one catching the attention.

Odisha will take on Gujarat in Jaipur and it will be Haryana up against the group B toppers Jharkhand at Vadodara. While the venue at Jaipur promises to turn at some stage, the match between Jharkhand and Haryana will see a batting track. It will be Haryana’s in-form bowling unit against Jharkhand’s big batting line up. Odisha will rely on their middle order to do the talking against Gujarat. Gujarat, on the other hand, have guns at the top order this season.

Odisha v Jharkhand

Odisha

Odisha must be a disappointed after losing to Jharkhand in the dead rubber recently. However, they had a few positives to take. Basant Mohanty bowled with rigour in the contest against Jharkhand. Skipper Govinda Poddar will be hoping a strong show against Gujarat. Odisha have made it to the knockouts after a big gap and hence they would want to make it count. There are no injury concerns for the side.

They are most likely to field the same unit that played the match against Jharkhand. Middle-order needs to step up and Biplap Samantray will be the player to watch out for. He has made a name for himself since the last couple of seasons and it is high time he makes it count when it matters the most.

Gujarat

Gujarat was involved in a very lackluster match against Tamil Nadu in the last group encounter. Batting has been ominous for the Gujarat team. They will be bolstered by the addition of Parthiv Patel. Patel has been one of the most experienced player for the side. Opener Priyank Panchal is the leading run-getter in the season thus far. With 1037 runs to his name including a triple ton, he will hold the cards for Gujarat.

The bowling will be a concern for them. Axar Patel might play a key role with the pitch expected to play it’s part at some stage of the match. Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah is yet to come up with a match winning performance. He needs to pull up his socks too.

Probable XI:

Odisha

Sandeep Pattnaik, Ranjit Singh, Govinda Poddar (C), Abhishek Yadav, Shubhranshu Senapati, Biplap Samantray, Saurabh Rawat, Deepak Behera, Suryakant Pradhan, Basant Mohanty, Dhiraj Singh

Gujarat

S Gohel, Priyank Panchal, Bhargav Merai, R Bhatt, M Juneja, Parthiv Patel (C), Axar Patel, Rush Kalaria, C Gaja, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah.

Jharkhand v Haryana

Jharkhand

Jharkhand toppled the heavy weights Karnataka to finish as the top side in the Group B. The spirits would be high for sure as they beat Odisha in a clinical manner recently. Kaushal Singh and skipper Saurabh Tiwary showed great form in the match against Odisha and have settled the middle order pretty well. Ishank Jaggi has been their most successful batsman in the series thus far.

With 3 centuries to his name already, Jaggi will be the player to watch out for. Young Ishan Kishan has shown great form too, but has been far from being consistent. No injury scares for the Jharkhand side will see them start as favorites against Haryana.

Haryana

Haryana finished at the second spot in Group C despite being level with Hyderabad at 31 points. However, the second spot does not describe the season the spirited Haryana side has had. With the off-spinner Jayant Yadav in the frame for the match, they will get in as a stronger unit. The bowling duo of Sanjay Pahal and Yuzvendra Chahal has been very successful for the team.

They have been propelled to the zenith owing to their bowling performances. They managed to crush Tripura in their recent match. Skipper Mohit Sharma had made it clear that he wishes to take his side all the way to the title this year. They will have selection conundrums in the match though. Chahal’s fitness remains a concern especially after he missed out the last group encounter. In the batting, the openers Nitin Saini and Shubham Rohilla look set. Others need to put their hands up.

Predicted XI:

Jharkhand

Anand Singh, Sumit Kumar, Virat Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Kishan, Kaushal Singh, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sunny Gupta, Vikash Singh, Ajay Yadav

Haryana

Nitin Saina, Shubham Rohilla, Guntashveer Singh, Chaitany Bishnoi, Rajat Paliwal, Rohit P Sharma, Rahul Tewatia/Yuzvendra Chahal, Joginder Sharma, Sanjay Pahal, Harshal Patel, Mohit Sharma.