Back to the grind for Delhi

Delhi players return to the nets after a two-day Diwali break

Mail Today – Fri 16 Nov, 2012 11:06 AM IST

After a well-earned two-day rest following the outright victory against Odisha, Delhi were back to the grind on Thursday as they prepared for their upcoming Ranji Trophy encounter against Baroda from Saturday.

Even though Baroda will miss the services of in-form all-rounder Irfan Pathan — who is out of action for four weeks with a knee injury — the lineup comprising the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf Pathan among others will surely test Delhi. The home team left no stone unturned as they sweated it out at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium in the Capital.

The overhead mist was no deterrent for them as they started training as early as nine in the morning and went full throttle till around one in the afternoon. As always, it started with a light warm-up followed by a game of football.

The return of experienced campaigner Rajat Bhatia and Yogesh Nagar, who sat out with injuries so far, will boost the team.

Bhatia, who has been working out on the sidelines over the last week — concentrating only on his fitness and some knock downs — finally started training with the team on Thursday. Speaking to MAIL T ODAY , Bhatia said that he felt good to be back in the team after the hiatus.

But he did confess that he isn’t 100 per cent yet and isn’t too comfortable with the ball in hand.

“It felt good to be back in the team.

Even when I was out, I had been training with the team — but only on fitness and my batting. These injuries can relapse very easily and so I avoided any running between the wickets and bowling.

“Even today, I didn’t bowl all out. Sometimes you get into the zone and it’s very difficult to control yourself. But I kept reminding myself that the body will need some time to get back to full action. But all in all, I was pretty happy with the way things panned out,” he said.

While skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Unmukt Chand were the first to hit the batting crease – at adjacent nets, it was interesting to see that Unmukt started against the spinners before shifting to the pacers. For a batsman who will open the innings, it did raise eyebrows.

Dhawan was his fluent self as always, treating every bowler with disdain. Another surprising factor was Pradeep Sangwan being handed a new ball to bowl with.

Sangwan has found the going tough this season and was even left out from the last match.

Man of the moment — Sumit Narwal — preferred to get a rub and didn’t bowl.

What came as the biggest surprise was the manner in which wicket-keeper Punit Bisht was served part- time bowlers when he hit the batting nets. While the spinners comprised of Unmukt, Dhawan and a half- reluctant Vikas Mishra, coach Sanjeev Sharma seemed to be the only pacer interested in running up to bowl at him.

For a player who has time and again saved Delhi with the bat, scoring a double ton against Baroda after the chips were down last season, this really shows the lack of importance his batting is given in the Delhi line-up.

Matches

MORE TOP STORIES TODAY