Friday, Dec 06, 2002
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Cricket
By Our Sports Reporter
Karnataka won the last two editions at Chennai and Vishakapatnam but a repeat act may prove tough with Tamil Nadu intent to spoil the host's party. Skipper Arun Kumar, Barrington Rowland, Vijay Bharadwaj and wicket keeper Thilak Naidu will shoulder the host's batting while Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and Sunil Joshi are expected to stifle rival batsmen. New comers — allrounder Stuart Binny and wicket-keeper batsman Robin Uthappa — add depth to the squad but will find it tough to break into the playing eleven. ``We want to score the hat-trick. Last year we had two 300 plus scores against Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad,'' said coach Abhiram. And his team, sulking with the demotion to the Plate Division, is itching to make a mark in the higher ranks. However Tamil Nadu has the strength to deflate the host's dreams. Batting is the key with Sadagopan Ramesh, S. Sriram, S. Sharath, Hemang Badani and Vasanth Saravanan lending thrust to skipper S. Suresh's dreams. Seamers L. Balaji, who earlier trained at the National Cricket Academy, and M. R. Shrinivas are familiar with the conditions here and that can prove handy. ``We have a strong team and we are aiming at consistency,'' said Suresh. While the arc lights trail Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, another traditionally strong team - Hyderabad - is saddled with a transition phase. Regulars Nanda Kishore, Daniel Manohar, N.P. Singh are missing from the squad but captain Venkatapathy Raju reiterated that it is an opportunity for youngsters to strengthen their claims. ``We rested a few players and wanted to give youngsters a chance. We are not putting any pressure on them. We just expect them to play good cricket,'' Raju said. And youngsters like T. Sumanth, seamers Mohd Ghouse and Fayaz Ahmed need not look far for inspiration. In A. T. Rayudu, they do have a player in their midst, who has melded potential with performance and is now proclaimed as a future India batsman. Among the remaining teams, Andhra led by M. S. K. Prasad has the ability to spring a few surprises. Amit Pathak and Y. Venugopala Rao will lead the batting charts while seamer Shahbuddin and off-spinner H. Watekar guide the bowling fortunes. Kerala has been riding high with three victories in the Plate Division and opener Sujith Somasundar's run-spree and leg spinner Ananthapadmanabhan's guile have spelt success. The veterans along with Ajay Kuduva and skipper Sunil Oasis will be the quartet that will add verve to coach Abey Kuruvilla's plans. Goa is yet to ward off the whipping boys tag but coach Prashant Kakode is banking on his team to get its act together. ''We have a few talented young allrounders like Sandeep Dhahd and Amit Dani,'' said Kakode. Goa will miss opener Vivek Kolambkar and mainstay Tanveer Jabbar and expectations will revolve around captain Rohit Rane, wicket-keeper T. R. Arasu who shifted allegiance from Tamil Nadu and left arm spinner Shadab Jakati, a regular here in the local league. The matches will be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Palace, WAP and Central College grounds. Friday's matches: Tamil Nadu vs Hyderabad, Karnataka vs Kerala and Andhra vs Goa.
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