Basant’s return boosts hosts

Cuttack: Their endeavours did not bear much fruit last season but for Avilash Mallick & Co, it was a learning experience that should hold them in good stead for their upcoming Ranji Trophy encounter against Gujarat here at DRIEMS cricket ground from Sunday.
Considered minnows compared to the likes of Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab and Gujarat, Odisha eked out a solitary win against Jharkhand while losing twice and drawing four matches in last season’s campaign.With one of their defeats coming against the Parthiv Patel-led side in Ahmedabad, Odisha, having plummeted from Group A to B, would be looking to return the favour this time. They have a pitch which has considerable amount of grass cover and is sure to assist their medium pacers early on.
Having conceded the first-innings lead against Maharashtra in their first match of the tournament the hosts’ big worry is their fragile middle-order which has often caved in against incisive bowling. Having started the season on a rousing note with two consecutive half-centuries, the onus will once again be on opener Nataraj Behera to deliver the goods. The right hander, who struck four consecutive centuries last season, including tons in both the innings against Mumbai, would be looking to continue his rich vein of form in the four-day format.
But Behera alone cannot do the job for Odisha. All-rounder Biplab Samantray, who demonstrated his proficiency with the bat with an enterprising century against Maharashtra, would be expected to shepherd the young middle-order against the likes of Rush Kalaria, Ishwar Chaudhary and Kushang Patel. Skipper Mallick, Niranjan Behera and Girija Rout need to convert their starts if Odisha are to make a match of it, against an opponent superior in both temperament and skill.
The good news is pace spearhead Basant Mohanty has been declared fit to play after missing the last match owing to a back injury. However, he did not bowl at full throttle during the practice session on Saturday, and understandably spent much of the time on back strengthening exercises.
For Gujarat, though, there is no such good news as they without frontline seamer Jasprit Bumrah. The lanky fast bowler, who picked up a knee injury during the recently-concluded Deodhar trophy, is expected to return only for the last two group league matches. Bumrah’s absence has been hardly felt as Kalaria, Chaudhary and Patel made hay against Rajasthan in Jaipur. Having garnered three vital points in their away encounter, the tourists would be looking to go one better and seize the initiative from the onset.
The batting line-up bears an ominous look with Priyank Panchal, captain Parthiv Patel and Y Venugopal Rao being prolific last season. Panchal started this season’s campaign with a half-century and a century against Rajasthan and looks good for more. With left-arm spinner Axar Patel, too, in the thick of things, Gujarat have got the right mix of experience and youth.