Railways and Services are placed in the Elite Group E alongside Goa, Assam, Punjab, and Rajasthan. Railways finished fourth in the Elite Group C last season with two wins and three losses in five games.

Meanwhile, Services finished third in the Elite Group with two wins and three losses in their respective five matches. Both teams will be hoping for better returns this season as they try to begin positively with a vital win.

The Indian men’s domestic cricket schedule shifts its focus from T20s to 50-over contests with the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22. The tournament will start on the 8th of December and will run until the 26th of December.

India’s premier 50-over competition, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is named after former Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare, will see 38 teams fight for the coveted title. The sides come from different zonal regions and are divided into six groups – Elite Group A, B, C, D, E, and Plate Group.

While Elite Group A features Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, and Vidarbha, Baroda, Bengal, Puducherry, Karnataka, Mumbai, and Tamil Nadu will form Elite Group B.

Delhi, Haryana, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Saurashtra, and Uttar Pradesh will compete in Elite Group C, whereas Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Chattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh will complete Elite Group D.

Assam, Goa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Railways, and Services are in Elite Group E, with Bihar, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Manipur to fight it out in the Plate Group.

The group stage matches will be completed in round-robin style, with the top team from each Elite group qualifying for the quarter-finals. Second-placed Elite group teams and the side topping the Plate group will have to reach the last-eight stage via pre-quarterfinals.

RAILWAYS VS SERVICES MATCH DETAILS:

Match: Railways vs Services, Round 1, Elite Group E, Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22
Date and Time: December 8th, 2021, Wednesday, 9:00 AM IST
Venue: Metallurgical & Engineering Consultant Ltd Sail Stadium, Ranchi

RAILWAYS VS SERVICES PITCH REPORT

The surface is on the slower side, and the spinners will enjoy their time here. There will be movement available for the pacers in the early hours. The team winning the toss is expected to bowl first.

RAILWAYS VS SERVICES WEATHER FORECAST

The skies are expected to stay clear, and the chances of precipitation are only 10% in Ranchi on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the temperature level is expected to stay between 14 and 26 degrees Celsius.

RAILWAYS VS SERVICES PROBABLE XIS

RAILWAYS

Mrunal Devdhar and Pratham Singh will be the batting mainstays for Railways. Mohammad Saif is expected to contribute with both bat and ball, while Karn Sharma, Amit Kulia, and Yuvraj Singh will lead the bowling attack.

PROBABLE XI:

• Mrunal Devdhar
• Pratham Singh
• Shivam Chaudhary
• Karn Sharma
• Upendra Yadav
• Harsh Tyagi
• Shubham Chaubey
• Yuvraj Singh
• Amit Kuila
• Dhrushant Soni
• Mohammad Saif

SERVICES

Gahlaut Rahul Singh, Anshul Gupta, and Rajat Paliwal are expected to lead the batting attack. The likes of Nitin Tanwar, Vikas Yadav, and Sachidanand Pandey are likely to head the bowling charge.

PROBABLE XI:

• Anshul Gupta
• Sufiyan Alam
• Rahul Singh
• Devender Lohchab
• Gahlaut Rahul Singh
• Vikas Hathwala
• Nitin Tanwar
• Vikas Yadav
• Rajat Paliwal
• Diwesh Pathania
• Sachidanand Pandey

RAILWAYS VS SERVICES MATCH PREDICTION

On paper, there is not much difference in the quality of the two sides. However, Services had a better campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy than their opponents. Their team is also better-suited to the 50-over format.

PREDICTION: RAILWAYS ARE EXPECTED TO WIN THIS GAME.