Delhi’s batting woes continue to haunt them as they prepare to face Chandigarh in the Ranji Trophy clash starting Wednesday. Despite individual contributions in the first three matches of the season, the team has yet to witness a collective show of strength from its top six batters.
In the opening encounter against Chhattisgarh, almost all of Delhi’s specialist batters squandered promising starts. The notable exception was Jonty Sidhu, who combined effectively with the lower order to secure a first-innings lead and reach his third First Class century.
The draw against Tamil Nadu saw Yash Dhull play a lone hand with an unbeaten century in the first innings, while Sanat Sangwan shouldered much of the responsibility in the second essay. Even in the victory over Assam, the turnaround was engineered by Harshit Rana, Sumit Mathur, and Siddhant Sharma, all bowling all-rounders who made handy contributions lower down the order against a tiring attack.
“We need bigger partnerships between the openers. In the middle order, hundreds are important,” said Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh after the previous game.
The return of Anuj Rawat and Ayush Badoni to the squad bolsters Delhi’s batting options. All-rounder Hrithik Shokeen is also available, having been absent from the previous two matches due to commitments with India-A in the ACC Men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Oman.
The other notable change in the squad is the omission of Rana, who is set to fly out with the Indian team for the Test tour of Australia. The 22-year-old pacer had taken a fifer and scored a half-century for Delhi before joining up with the India squad as a reserve for the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai.
Since losing to Railways in the opening round, Chandigarh, led by Manan Vohra, has registered emphatic victories against Assam and Jharkhand.
