Friday April 25, 2008

Bhopal     Madhya Pradesh     Nation     Sports     Editorial     Astro     Business    


 
Search
Google   
News
World
Columnists
Opinion
Letters
Open Forum
Cartoon
Stock
Weather
Today's Picture
Classified
Matrimonial
Archives
 Home>>>Sports 

Yuvraj, Harbhajan eager to open account  

Agencies

Mohali, Apr 24: With no certain word still on Sachin Tendulkar's Indian Premier League debut on Friday, Kings XI Punjab will be eager to take the opportunity to clinch an elusive win at home turf against Mumbai Indians here.

The Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab team, having lost both its matches -- against Chennai Super Kings here and Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur, is bound to be under pressure to record a victory as it will be again playing before their home crowd.

Though Yuvraj is one of the dangerous batsman in this format of the game, he is yet to unleash his real firepower for which he is known. He scored 23 and 57 in his previous two matches.

Other top batsman Mahela Jayawardene is also yet to prove himself while his compatriot Kumar Sangakkara would wish to play a big knock on Friday.

Punjab's other problem are its strike bowlers, who are yet to live up to their reputation.

Right-arm fast bowler Brett Lee finished with similar figures of 4-0-35-1 in his two matches while left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan had figures of 4-0-47-2 in his first match.

S Sreesanth is yet to come good for the Punjab team as he has proved expensive in the six overs he has bowled in two matches without much success.

The spin department, with Piyush Chawla in the forefront, has also failed to click so far.

Another keen thing to watch out will be how Yuvraj tackles his state-mate Harbhajan Singh.

Mumbai Indians, who are also yet to score a win, will be hoping that Sri Lankan veteran Sanath Jayasuriya plays a big knock as he has so far scored just 49 runs in his two outings.

Besides, if Tendulkar, Mumbai Indians regular captain currently recuperating from his groin injury, is fit to play Friday, it will definitely add to the firepower of the team, also including Robin Uthappa and West Indian Dwayne Bravo.

"I hope Sachin plays in Chandigarh (Mohali)... I can also concentrate on my bowling," said Mumbai Indians stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh after his team lost by narrow six-run margin against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai last night.

Harbhajan along with talented youngster Abhishek Nayar showed grit at the Chepauk. Harbhajan was quite economical but he under-bowled himself with just two overs.

Uthappa has shown that he can be dangerous in this format, but he will need to ensure that he stays at the crease for longer duration to play big innings.

South African Shaun Pollock is another big asset to the team with his wicket taking ability and also chipping in with useful knocks.

As the match will be played under floodlights, Mohali track should suit Pollock and left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra and even right-arm medium pacer Dhaval Kulkarni should be able to move the ball here.

Unlike Chennai, where there was heavy dew on the field last night, Mohali ground should be okay.

"We don't foresee this problem here. However, still we are prepared to tackle dew in case there is any," PCA curator Daljit Singh said.

 

 
Print This Page         Mail This Story
 
 


 

 

About us Contact us Terms & Conditions Advertisements

Asia News  © Central Chronicle 2007.  India News