A confident Assam, fresh after taking a vital first-innings lead in a high-scoring match against Delhi, takes on a dispirited Hyderabad which suffered an innings defeat against Mumbai in the last match, in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here from Tuesday.
Even in batting, which is said to be its strength compared to the inexperienced bowling line-up, there is a lack of desired consistency and Hyderabad continues to rely heavily on captain and southpaw Tanmay Agarwal.
The team badly needs big contributions from the likes of Rohit Rayudu, Mickil Jaiswal, all-rounder T. Ravi Teja and Buddhi Rahul consistently to change the script in its Ranji campaign this season, especially after the selectors dropped seasoned opener P. Akshat Reddy after he failed in his comeback match against Mumbai last week.
The lower order doesn’t provide anything to cheer up and the onus is on the top order to rise to the occasion. The bowlers clearly struggled whenever the opposition went on the offensive, especially when the pitch offered no help at all, in the previous two games. Ironically, after two days of harsh treatment by the Mumbai batting line-up, it was the Mumbai spinners who exploited the rough marks created by the Hyderabad bowlers to wrap up the contest in three days.
But that the spinners - left-arm bowler Tanay Thyagarajan and M. Shashank - failed to make a serious impact may not instil confidence in the team unless the pitch here behaves differently.
On the other hand, Assam has batters like Rahul Hazarika, Rishav Das, Riyan Parag, Sibsankar Roy, and Swarupam Purkayastha who looked good this season with handy contributions when the team needed and they should be ready to continue the good work against Hyderabad too.
In bowling, Assam has left-arm pacers Mrinmoy Dutta, Akash Sengupta, and left-arm spinner Siddharth Sarmah who can test the home team’s batting.
The match starts at 9.30 am.
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