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Delhi will be bolstered by the return of India pacers Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini when they press for an outright win against Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy Group H game in Guwahati on Thursday.
Delhi need an outright win to stay alive in the competition after conceding first innings lead to Tamil Nadu in their drawn opening match here.
Ishant, who has not been picked for the Sri Lanka series beginning on Thursday, will be keen to make a statement.
The lanky pacer, who has played 105 Tests, had joined the Delhi team last week and missed the opening match due to quarantine requirements. He had earlier not planned to play in the league stage. In the batting department, all eyes will be on India U-19 captain Yash Dhull who made a dream first class debut by scoring back-to-back hundreds against Tamil Nadu, becoming only the third batter to do so in the tournament’s history. Jharkhand will be under pressure after losing their opening game to Chhattisgarh. The Saurabh Tiwary-led side will be aiming for a better batting show after managing 169 and 133 in the two innings against Chhattisgarh.
Meanwhile, Dropped from the Indian Test team after his prolonged lean run with the bat, Ajinkya Rahane will be the center of attention when heavyweights Mumbai play Goa in their Elite Group D game in Ahmedabad.
Rahane did score a much-needed hundred (129) in their opener against Saurashtra, but that could not save his place in the Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka.
The former India vice-captain, though, would like to continue in the same fashion against a Goa attack that is not likely to pose many problems.
Apart from Rahane, another Mumbaikar who would be in focus is young Sarfaraz Khan, whose purple patch in red ball cricket continues, having hammered a monumental 275 against Saurahstra.
The 41-time Ranji champions would look to secure full points from the game after Saurashtra denied them an outright win.
With a batting line-up comprising skipper Prithvi Shaw, Rahane, Sarfaraz, Aakarshit Gomel, Sachin Yadav and senior stumper Aditya Tare, Mumbai would look to pile up the runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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