The third match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place between the Punjab cricket team and the Rajasthan cricket team. They are both in group E and will be looking forward to outdoing each other in the upcoming match. The winner of this match will top the list in Group E. This is also going to be a tight-fit match with both teams looking to beat each other in the play.
TEAM NEWS
PUNJAB CRICKET TEAM
Team Punjab will kickstart the match with the exit of Sandeep Sharma from the squad. Having been overlooked by the Punjab selectors for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma has decided to switch to Chandigarh.
The 28-year-old fast bowler secured a no-objection certificate from his parent state, Punjab, and will play his first match for his new team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Kerala (Elite Group D) at the MadhavRao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot, on Wednesday.
Sharma, talking to The Indian Express, says he decided to make the switch because his office (Bharat Petroleum) is in Chandigarh.
“I moved to Chandigarh because my office is here. It was just a personal decision,” says Sharma, who has played 2 T20Is for India against Zimbabwe in 2015.
However, this paper understands that there was no guarantee he would be selected for the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Ranji Trophy. He was not part of the team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
“He wanted to play all the three formats, but in the pace department, he was fourth in the pecking order after Siddharth Kaul, Arshdeep Singh, and Baltej Singh,” a PCA official says.
Since making his senior debut for Punjab in the 2011-12 season, the wiry pacer has played 44 first-class, 49 List A matches, and 48 T20s matches.
Chandigarh got affiliation a couple of years ago and is playing in the Elite Group in the white-ball tournaments. However, in the Ranji Trophy, they are in the Plate Division.
“My focus is on white-ball cricket for now, and Chandigarh is playing with Elite teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yes, in the Ranji Trophy, they will be in the Plate Group, but this is a group of talented players, and I am sure we will earn the promotion this season,” says Sharma.
He is known to swing the ball both ways and played a pivotal role in India’s 2012 Under-19 World Cup triumph in Australia. He bagged 12 wickets in the tournament.
His 39 wickets in the first three Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) earned him an India cap for a two-match series against Zimbabwe in 2015. But, thereafter, he had injury issues.
A stress fracture followed by a shoulder injury kept him out of the game for 18 months.
From 2013 to 2017, Sharma played for Kings XI Punjab. For the last three seasons, he has represented Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sharma has a fine record in the IPL. In 99 IPL games, Sharma has picked 112 wickets at an average of 25.43 and strike rate of 19.62. His economy is 7.77.
Sharma has made a name for himself as an effective new-ball bowler and has picked up wickets in the Powerplay overs against top-order batters.
He has dismissed Virat Kohli seven times in the IPL, the most by a bowler.
In fact, in 12 innings against Sharma, Kohli has managed to score just 68 runs. He has also dismissed Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle four times each in the IPL.
Sharma is confident that SRH will bid for him in the upcoming mega auction. He says, “I am sure Sunrisers will go for me in the auction. But the auction has always been tricky, let’s see.”
RAJASTHAN TEAM NEWS
Rajasthan is a capable side and has some quality players in their line-up. Skipper Deepak Hooda and Mahipal Lomror are seasoned campaigners and their experience will come in handy.
Ravi Bishnoi and Shubham Sharma will be crucial with the ball in hand and will need to provide timely break-throughs for their side. Mahipal Lomror and Manender Singh will need to make substantial contributions with the willow.
Rajasthan had a rather disappointing run in the tournament last season, finishing fourth in Group D. They will be hoping to better their performance from last season and progress into the knockout stage this year.
PUNJAB VS RAJASTHAN MATCH DETAILS
Match: Punjab vs Rajasthan, Vijay Hazare Trophy
Date: December 8, 2021
Time: 9:00 AM IST
Venue: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
PUNJAB VS RAJASTHAN PITCH REPORT
The surface at the JSCA International Stadium is a good cricketing surface. The batters can play their shots freely once they spend enough time in the middle.
The bowlers need to bowl tight lines and lengths to extract assistance from this surface. The team that wins the toss will want to chase on this surface.
PUNJAB VS RAJASTHAN WEATHER REPORT
Spells of partly cloudy skies are expected to be a feature on matchday. Temperatures are expected to range between 14 and 25 degrees Celsius.
No rain interruptions are expected throughout the day.
PUNJAB VS RAJASTHAN PROBABLE XIS
PUNJAB
PROBABLE XI:
- Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
- Abhishek Sharma
- Anmolpreet Singh
- Gurkeerat Singh Mann
- Baltej Singh
- Mandeep Singh
- Sharad Lumba
- Harpreet Brar
- Siddharth Kaul
- Mayank Markande
- Arshdeep Singh.
RAJASTHAN
PROBABLE XI:
- Deepak Hooda (c)
- Mahipal Lomror
- Salman Khan
- Chandrapal Singh
- Manender Singh
- Shubham Sharma
- Kamlesh Nagarkoti
- Khaleel Ahmed
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Aniket Choudhary
- Tanveer Ul-Haq.
PUNJAB VS RAJASTHAN MATCH PREDICTION:
Punjab is a quality side and has some solid players in their lineup. They are favorites to finish on top in this encounter.
