Ranji Trophy: Delhi face call between Priyansh Arya and Arpit Rana again

In Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), strange things have happened since time immemorial and making a current India A cricketer, who has scored century in his last competitive game vs AUS A

A confident Delhi will be aiming to log full points against Himachal Pradesh even as the debate continues on whether head coach Sarandeep Singh would pick the talented Priyansh Arya in the playing XI for the Ranji Trophy group D game starting Saturday.

In Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), strange things have happened since time immemorial and making a current India A cricketer, who has scored a century in his last competitive game versus Australia A, warm the bench could be the latest addition to their hall of shame.

Both Delhi and HP got three points from their opening fixture and Kotla isn't known for hosting Ranji games in October. Hence the flat and slow deck, that is expected to be on offer, promises to be a run-feast just like the hosts' opening match in Hyderabad where Sanat Sangwan and debutant Ayush Doseja scored double hundreds.

 

Delhi will go into the match as favourites as Himachal Pradesh isn't a formidable opposition although they have IPL player Mayank Dagar in their ranks.

For Delhi, off-spinner Shivam Sharma, who played the last game, is expected to miss out due to an injury. All eyes will also be on pace duo of Navdeep Saini and Simarjeet Singh, who went wicket-less in the 25 overs they bowled collectively.

Why Arpit Rana in scheme of things after 8 failures?  In the last game, Arpit Rana was asked to partner Sangwan, and the 21-year-old southpaw took 7 wickets, apart from picking three tailenders' scalps.

There are murmurs in DDCA circle as to why this man is being repeatedly preferred after his sequence of scores read 19, 0, 8, 28, 0, 12, 10 and 7.

In the second innings in Hyderabad when the match was dead as a contest, Yash Dhull was promoted to open and scored a half-century.

That Arpit, whose highest in five first-class games is 28, has been preferred over a youngster, who scored 475 runs in his maiden IPL season and has a ton on India A debut was made to cool his heels, is beyond comprehension.

When a senior office-bearer was asked, his answer was that the final XI is head coach's call.

"We know Arpit Rana's selection is a debatable one but we can't really help. Why Priyansh wasn't picked in the playing eleven and someone (Arpit), who hasn't yet scored 30 was preferred can be best answered by selectors or head coach Sarandeep Singh," he told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

It is also learnt that DDCA has already made it a rule that no selection committee member will travel during away games.

Now when the selection committee member isn't present, the question of objective feedback to the office-bearers also goes out of the window.

DDCA president Rohan Jaitley is known to distance himself from selection matters, but if a current India A player is being benched on a regular basis, it will only bring more disrepute to the organisation.