Duleep Trophy, Match 3 Preview: India Blue and India Green play for a spot in finals

The third match of the 2016 edition of the Duleep Trophy will witness India Blue taking on India Green at the Greater Noida. India Red has already ensured their spot in the finals as their last match against India A saw the game being washed out and both the sides were awarded one point each by the virtue of a draw, which makes this match very interesting. It is a must win for Suresh Raina-led India Green as even a draw will see India blue making their way to the finals.

Pitch Conditions

The seam bowlers would be licking their lips seeing the kind of support the Greater Noida wicket offers for the seamers, and with the swingy pink ball in hand, it’s going to be a tough time for the batsmen. However, the pitch seems to get better for the batsmen on Day 3 and Day 4.

Team Analysis

India Blue:

Gautam Gambhir, the skipper along with Mayank Agarwal at the top itself will be the key for them as if the duo can put in some runs at the top, that will give a lot of confidence to the middle-order. In the only innings they played, Gambhir scored 77 runs and Agarwal added 92 for the side, being the top scorers in the side.

They have a pretty strong middle-order as well in the likes of Baba Aparajith, Suryakumar Yadav, Karn Sharma, Dinesh Karthik(w), and Sheldon Jackson. The pace bowling trio is yet to bowl with the pink ball in the tournament and it will be interesting to see how Krishna Das, Pankaj Singh, and Mohit Sharma will explore the support the wicket will offer with the new ball.

Also read – Chris Gayle wants Rohit Sharma to score triple ton in Tests

India Green:

Skipper Suresh Raina is in good notch as he smashed an aggressive 90 in the second innings against India Red, where he clobbered Kuldeep Yadav for a few boundaries, but Kuldeep had the last laugh. Despite, missing out on a hundred there, this will be an ideal stage for the captain to pull his socks up and take his side to the finals.

An experienced Robin Uthappa at the top of the batting order balances the line-up. Sandeep Sharma with the new pink ball will be a worry for any batsmen and the leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal will join the party once the ball gets old. Ashok Dinda and Ankit Rajpoot will be looking forward to get their rhythm back in the must-win encounter.

Playing XI (Probable)

India Blue: Gautam Gambhir(c), Mayank Agarwal, Baba Aparajith, Suryakumar Yadav, Karn Sharma, Dinesh Karthik(w), Sheldon Jackson, Parvez Rasool, Mohit Sharma, Krishna Das, Pankaj Singh.

India Green: Robin Uthappa, Jalaj Saxena, Parthiv Patel(w), Rajat Paliwal, Suresh Raina(c), Saurabh Tiwary, Shreyas Gopal, Ashok Dinda, Sandeep Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Ankit Rajpoot.

Match starts at 14:00 IST

StAttack:

1. Mohit Sharma needs 5 wickets to complete 100 First-class wickets.

2. Karn Sharma requires 3 wickets to complete 100 wickets.

3. Since the match will be played with the pink ball, the possibility of the match ending on a draw is very lean.