Vijay Hazare Trophy: Listless Delhi Knocked Out In Group League

An out of sorts Delhi, plagued by some questionable team selections, were knocked out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, losing by 51 runs to Uttarakhand in their final group league stage game on Tuesday. With four defeats from seven games, Delhi with 12 points, finished fifth in Group C. Haryana, with 28 points and an all-win record, finished with highest points among all participating states The six teams to directly qualify for the quarterfinals are Haryana (28 points), Rajasthan (24), Karnataka (24), Vidarbha (20), Mumbai (20) and Tamil Nadu (20). The four teams to qualify for the pre-quarterfinals are Bengal (20), Gujarat (20), Kerala (20) and Maharashtra (20).

Despite bowling out Uttarakhand for 221 in 45.5 overs with pacer Navdeep Saini (3/23) and left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi (3/30) doing bulk of the damage, it was yet another shoddy batting show by young Delhi batters as they were bowled out for 170 in 46.2 overs.

A state that has given batting stalwarts like Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant over the past two decades, it is embarrassing to find someone of Kshitiz Sharma's (4 off 18 balls) calibre being asked to open the batting.

The selection committee as well as the team management will have some answering to do as to how Kshitiz, who has an average of less than 30 (29.86) in 22 List A games with just three fifty-plus scores, has been given the opportunity to open.

Kshitiz didn't have the skills to tackle Mumbai Indians' last season's find Akash Madhwal, who exposed the batter's lack of skill.

So bare is the cupboard that a dogged slow-coach red-ball player like Jonty Sidhu (23 off 56 balls) has been entrusted with the duty of opening the batting.

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