Haryana
Haryana will hope their new captain will lift their spirits and results•Associated Press
Where they finished last season
Second from bottom in Group BBig picture
Last season, only two Haryana batsmen averaged 30 or over in the Ranji Trophy. But six of their bowlers sent down 50 overs or more and averaged under 25. Such numbers come with the territory – in this case their home ground, the Bansi Lal Stadium in Lahli, which hosts the most seam-friendly pitches in India. The five matches Haryana played in Lahli last season produced three 200-plus totals in 17 innings.Results, as they tend to be on pitches of that nature, were a lottery, with Haryana winning two of their home games and losing one. There were two draws, but only because of poor weather that ruled out a fourth day against both Vidarbha and Delhi.Performances away from home, perhaps, were a better gauge of Haryana’s quality: they lost all three of their matches on the road, to Punjab, Gujarat, and bottom-placed Saurashtra.Given that Haryana begin their 2015-16 season with three away games, against three formidable opponents – Maharashtra (semi-finalists and finalists in the last two seasons), Delhi (who topped their group last season) and Karnataka (gunning for a hat-trick of titles) – they will have to find some way to compete in unfamiliar territory.Their task is made harder by the absence of Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma – both part of India’s limited-overs squads for their series against South Africa – and Joginder Sharma. This will leave a bulk of the bowling burden to be borne by Harshal Patel and the spinners Jayant Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.Batting is usually the bigger worry for Haryana, and the acquisition of Virender Sehwag – he will also captain them – will be accompanied by both excitement and anxiety. Over the last couple of years, there has been a perceptible dimming of his powers, but are they still at a level that can cause fear among domestic attacks? Almost 37, and with no realistic prospect of an international comeback, how much enthusiasm can he sustain over a domestic season with barely any breathing room?Surendra Bhave, their coach, isn’t too worried. “I don’t have to say what sort of impact [Sehwag] would have on any cricket team,” he says. “He has been wonderful so far. Every player he has spoken to personally. He’s a very good mentor also. He’s doing an excellent job. Coming from him, it makes a lot of difference, coming from a great achiever.”Players to watch
Yuzvendra Chahal recently earned a call-up to the India A T20 side against the South Africans thanks to his performances in the shortest format, particularly the IPL. But in a career that began in 2009, Chahal has only played 17 first-class matches (32 wickets at 40.06). If he gets an extended run in the Haryana side in the absence of Amit Mishra, can Chahal show that his legbreaks belong in the longest format as well?Himanshu Rana will only turn 17 on the day the Ranji season begins, but has already shown glimpses of what could be a special talent. His coach Surendra Bhave calls him a “cracking player”. On his debut last season, Rana made 80 against Delhi, and followed it up with a 149 that set up an innings win over Rajasthan. He topped Haryana’s batting averages last season, and his side will hope he can shore up their often brittle top order again.Preparation
Apart from a pre-season camp and practice matches in Lahli, Haryana also geared up for the season by playing the KSCA tournament (four-day matches) in Karnataka and the Buchi Babu tournament (two-day matches) in Chennai.Squad
Virender Sehwag (capt), Chaitanya Bishnoi, Sanjay Budhwar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Dagar, Rahul Dalal, Rahul Dewan, Ashish Hooda, Sanjay Pahal, Harshal Patel, Himanshu Rana, Sachin Rana, Nitin Saini (wk), Guntashveer Singh, Priyank Tehlan, Jayant Yadav.In their own words
“The data shows that teams which play well at home usually do very well in domestic cricket. But we would like to look at it in a thorough manner and start winning outside also, which is very crucial for us.”
