Medium Pace Bowler Manpreet Gony who played for Chennai Super Kings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) has been selected to play as a replacement for Sreesanth who dropped out for back injury.
IPL was Gony’s first exposure to International Cricket and the Bangladesh Tri Nation Series will be his debut in International ODI.
Gony had an impressive run in the IPL and played an important role in the journey of Chennai Super Kings to the IPL Final. Gony played a Total of 16 matches in IPL and bagged 17 wickets conceding 443 runs at an impressive economy rate of 7.38. His best was 3/34 against Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Indian bowler Sreesanth recently involved in the slap-gate controversy with Harbhajan Singh, will not be playing the Bangladesh Tri Series due to back injury. The rigorous and hectic schedule of the recently concluded IPL where the teams played more than fourteen games traveling from one region to another has taken its first toll on the Indian National ODI Team.
Sreesanth had quite a performance in IPL where he played for the IPL Jaipur Team - Kings XI Punjab where he bagged 19 wickets conceding 442 runs at an economy arte of 8.65. The absence of Sreesanth will definitely affect the pace battery of the Indian ODI team . However there are enough talents right now like Laximipathi Balaji among others and it should not be difficult to feel up the space,
Sreesanth would be reporting to the Bangalore Fitness Camp for further assessment of his condition before it is known for how long he would be absent from the National Side.
Indian Premier League has taken everybody by storm. The amount of fresh talent that’s been exposed would lead people to believe that there may be many new faces in team India. But the fact of the matter is that, only 15 or 16 players can be selected in the team and the players who were already there and there about have performed really well. There might be just a few inclusions in the batting and in the spin bowling departments.
Looking at the eight teams and the Indian players who have been the best in each its interesting to find that they are already in the national team.
Mother of all clashes, this could well be the dress rehearsal for the finals of the inaugural Indian Premier League and both sides would be looking to score points over the other.
Men at the Helm
Yuvi and Warny both have been inspirational. Yuvi hasn’t performed as well himself but he has a great influence on the younger players. The way he has handled Sreesanth and Chawla and encouraged Marsh and VRV has been phenomenal. Warny has been Midas for the team. Both have handled pressure like only few can in the world.
We have the bat
On paper, Punjab may look a better batting side but apart from Marsh and Sangakkara, others havn’t had many big scores. On other hand for Rajasthan, Smith, Asnodkar, Watson and Pathan have consistently made good scores.
We have the ball
If Punjab have Sreesanth, Pathan and Chawla superb form, Rajasthan have the bowler of the tournament thus far, Sohail Tanveer and the spinner of the tournament, Shane Warne in their ranks. Munaf, Siddharth and Watson too have hit the right line and lengths more often than not. Yusuf Pathan has come in real handy as well.
Patrolling Party
Rajasthan have been very good in the field, while Punjab have had a few poor fielding games. Both will want to eliminate lapses in fielding to give their bowlers an edge over the opponents.
High on betting meter
Rajasthan are slightly high on certain betting meters owing to their better record, while the teams are at level on others.
Who gets the tick?
Rajasthan are on a roll and it will take either an outrageously superb spell of bowling from Sreesanth or Pathan or a lapse on the part of Rajasthan batsmen to make Punjab victorious.
Punjab have sealed a place in the semis with rain washing out the match between Delhi and Kolkata. They will like to keep the winning form going running in to the knock out stages. The pre tournament favorites Deccan are out of contention but will like to prove a point and finish on a high note to give their fans something to look out for in the next season.
Men at the Helm
Yuvi and Gilly both have led their sides very well but the difference has been that while Yuvi’s boys have been excellent, Gilly’s men have simply been dismal.
We have the bat
Punjab batters are in superb form. The only concern for Punjab is the relative lack of form for Yuvraj Singh. Deccan meanwhile have been improving. The big stars didn’t fire in the last few matches but others took the centre. Actually its been the bowlers who have let them down in the last few matches.
We have the ball
In the bowling department Punjab look one up with Pathan being consistent through out the league and Sreesanth running into some serious form. Charger RP Singh might be amongst the leading wicket takers but his tally is very misleading because he has given too many runs for those wickets and very few of them are top order batsmen.
Patrolling Party
Punjab dropped a few catches in their last match against Mumbai but effected some pretty good run outs. They have had some off days but have generally fielded well. Deccan on the other hand have at the most been patchy. They need to field well today to pep up their bowlers.
High on betting meter
Punjab are sitting high on most betting meters with offerings of 4 on 7 while Deccan give 11 on 8.
Who gets the tick?
Punjab start as favorites for this match but one can never count out a team like Deccan. They have players who can make a day their own.
