Big four shore up Delhi ranks

After an outright win over Punjab, Orissa have moved to fifth spot in the points table.

However, the return of the big four — Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli — due to the cancellation of the remainder of the India-England ODI series will even out all on-paper equations and give the hosts a distinct edge over the visitors when the they lock horns in the Elite Division match beginning at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday.

The impact was apparent in Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya’s promptness in naming the playing XI a day in advance, and the list didn’t include Shikhar Dhawan, Chetnya Nanda, Yogesh Nagar and Gaurav Chabbra. “They (Sehwag, Gambhir, Virat, Ishant) add a lot to our team, but in the dressing room they’ve never been star players. It’s the playing XI in the middle that matters,” said Dahiya.

“Results suggest we aren’t playing well. Our batting is more experienced, but while chasing a 350-odd total, there hasn’t been a single century from us in this season. Mithun (Manhas) and Rajat (Bhatia) stay as very important players. Mithun can hold the fort for us,” added Dahiya.

With Sehwag and Gambhir stepping in, Delhi suddenly have one of the most formidable batting orders, while Ishant’s entry is certainly going to add firepower to their bowling ranks.

Must-win situation

While Dahiya, knowing that Delhi need to win their three remaining matches to keep their hopes of making to quarter-final alive, has desperately asked for “a wicket that will give us result” showing Ishant as his trump card, Orissa, too, are looking to play a 3-1 combination for fast bowlers.

“Our strength lies in our medium pacers. There wouldn’t be too many changes from the team that played the last game,” said Orissa coach Venkatpathy Raju. Seventeen of the 20 wickets in their last match against Punjab fell to the pace trio of Debasis Mohanty, Basanth Mohanty and Sukanta Khatua, with Basanth scalping seven in the first innings.

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