The pitches on the Niranjan Shah Stadium, situated close to the Rajkot-Jamnagar freeway, often behave in considered one of two methods. There are both raging turners that enable spinners to make merry. Or there are featherbeds that facilitate tedious run-fests.
On Friday, nonetheless, it was a taking part in floor with an excellent overlaying of grass that greeted Saurashtra and Gujarat forward of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. Stunning sufficient for Gujarat coach Ramesh Powar to casually quip to one of many Saurashtra gamers throughout a observe session that he had by no means seen a lot grass on a pitch in Rajkot.
When Saurashtra coach Niraj Odedra was requested about Powar’s studying, he nodded in settlement. “Even we’re shocked to see that a lot grass. I agree with Ramesh. I’ve not seen a lot grass right here in Rajkot. However with a impartial curator there, let’s simply say will probably be a real pitch. It could assist batters and pacers on the primary couple of days and from the third day onwards, there will probably be a bit little bit of help for the spinners as properly,” Odedra remarked after Saurashtra’s observe session.
If a number of the grass is shaved off earlier than the toss on Saturday morning for the spinners to have a larger say from day one, neither staff will probably be complaining. Though Ravindra Jadeja isn’t accessible for Saurashtra, which is led by left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, the host has an armoury of spin bowlers in Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Sammar Gajjar, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya and Parth Bhut to select from. For Gujarat, moreover the presence of left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai, who took 9 wickets in an innings in opposition to Uttarakhand not too long ago, the supply of leggie Ravi Bishnoi following his involvement in India’s T20I sequence victory over England is a lift.
“Bishnoi has bowled fairly properly each time he has performed for us,” Gujarat skipper Chintan Gaja stated. “Sure, each groups have superb spinners. However I feel quick bowlers will probably be dominating this match.”
Printed – February 07, 2025 05:25 pm IST
