Tamil Nadu and Punjab find themselves with a lot to play for in their final Ranji Trophy Group B league match beginning at the NPR College of Engineering and Technology grounds here on Tuesday.
With Mumbai having already qualified for the play-offs, the remaining two spots are up for grabs.
Tamil Nadu has 18 points from seven matches. Not even a win with a bonus point — which will take Tamil Nadu to 25 points — will guarantee it qualification.
Gujarat needs only three points from its final league match against host Mumbai to finish on 26 points. Uttar Pradesh will have 25 points too if it beats Baroda with a bonus point in Greater Noida, but it has a better net run-rate than Tamil Nadu.
On the other hand, Tamil Nadu could still qualify with just an outright win provided the other results go its way.
Meanwhile, Punjab, which is on 20 points, is more in control of its own destiny; scoring an outright win against Tamil Nadu will secure its play-offs spot. Points for first-innings points could still earn it qualification, subject to the results elsewhere.
Things started to go wrong for Tamil Nadu after a heart breaking one-wicket loss against Mumbai where it squandered a first-innings lead of 140.
Rains in Chennai allowed only two days of play against Andhra, and Tamil Nadu split points with the visitor after having to abort its pursuit of the lead on the final day.
Bad weather hit Tamil Nadu’s match against Gujarat in Tirunelveli as well, with only a day’s play possible.
Experienced players from both sides, like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Abhinav Mukund, will hope to come good in this match, which is practically a pre-quarterfinal.
There was a slight drizzle here in the afternoon on Monday. Both Tamil Nadu and Punjab will pray to the weather gods as rains will affect their prospects of qualification.
The teams (from):
Tamil Nadu: Abhinav Mukund (capt), B. Aparajith, K. Dinesh Karthik, B. Indrajith, R. Prasanna, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil S. Shah, D.T. Chandrasekar , J. Kousik, Aswin Crist, M. Mohamed, R. Sathish, M. Kaushik Gandhi, U. Sushil, Vijay Shankar, M. Shahrukh Khan.
Punjab: Harbhajan Singh (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Manan Vohra, Jiwanjot Singh, Uday Kaul, Gitansh Khera, Mayank Sidhana, Siddarth Kaul, Mandeep Singh, B. Brainder Sran, Deepak Bansal, Pargat Singh, Sarbjit Ladda, Rajwinder Singh.
With Mumbai having already qualified for the play-offs, the remaining two spots are up for grabs.
Tamil Nadu has 18 points from seven matches. Not even a win with a bonus point — which will take Tamil Nadu to 25 points — will guarantee it qualification.
Gujarat needs only three points from its final league match against host Mumbai to finish on 26 points. Uttar Pradesh will have 25 points too if it beats Baroda with a bonus point in Greater Noida, but it has a better net run-rate than Tamil Nadu.
On the other hand, Tamil Nadu could still qualify with just an outright win provided the other results go its way.
Meanwhile, Punjab, which is on 20 points, is more in control of its own destiny; scoring an outright win against Tamil Nadu will secure its play-offs spot. Points for first-innings points could still earn it qualification, subject to the results elsewhere.
Things started to go wrong for Tamil Nadu after a heart breaking one-wicket loss against Mumbai where it squandered a first-innings lead of 140.
Rains in Chennai allowed only two days of play against Andhra, and Tamil Nadu split points with the visitor after having to abort its pursuit of the lead on the final day.
Bad weather hit Tamil Nadu’s match against Gujarat in Tirunelveli as well, with only a day’s play possible.
Experienced players from both sides, like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Abhinav Mukund, will hope to come good in this match, which is practically a pre-quarterfinal.
There was a slight drizzle here in the afternoon on Monday. Both Tamil Nadu and Punjab will pray to the weather gods as rains will affect their prospects of qualification.
The teams (from):
Tamil Nadu: Abhinav Mukund (capt), B. Aparajith, K. Dinesh Karthik, B. Indrajith, R. Prasanna, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil S. Shah, D.T. Chandrasekar , J. Kousik, Aswin Crist, M. Mohamed, R. Sathish, M. Kaushik Gandhi, U. Sushil, Vijay Shankar, M. Shahrukh Khan.
Punjab: Harbhajan Singh (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Manan Vohra, Jiwanjot Singh, Uday Kaul, Gitansh Khera, Mayank Sidhana, Siddarth Kaul, Mandeep Singh, B. Brainder Sran, Deepak Bansal, Pargat Singh, Sarbjit Ladda, Rajwinder Singh.
