Published: Sep 23, 2015, 01:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 23, 2015, 01:42 PM (IST)
Indore: Right-handed batsman Devendra Bundela has been retained as skipper of Madhya Pradesh cricket team skipper for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2015-16 tournament. Madhya Pradesh will play against Uttar Pradesh at Moradabad from October 1 in their first match of the season, a member of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) said on Tuesday. He said in their second game Madhya Pradesh will play against Tamil Nadu at Indore from October 8.
Earlier, former India bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji was appointed Tamil Nadu’s player-cum-bowling coach. Tamil Nadu will take on Baroda in the opening game of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai starting from October 1. India discard and left-handed opening batsman Abhinav Mukund, who played five Tests for India in 2011, would be leading the side. U Sushil and M Kaushik Gandhi would join the team for matches to be played at Indore against Madhya Pradesh from October 8th to 11th October and against Mumbai in Mumbai from October 15th to 18th October.
After assessing last season’s Ranji results, which had results in 62 out of 115 games, the technical committee suggested adding five overs to each of the four days’ play to increase the possibility of a result. The committee also proposed doing away with the award of single point for salvaging a draw after conceding the lead. The working committee was briefed that with the existing format, teams are content with the first-innings result in most cases since both teams gain points, with three awarded for gaining the lead. As a result, the side that concedes the lead doesn’t really push for victory, making the second innings redundant on numerous occasions. The technical committee was of the opinion that by taking away a point for earning a draw, the teams will end up being more aggressive.
Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy 2015-16 squad: Devendra Bundela (c), Naman Ojha (vc), Aditya Shrivastava, Jalaj Saxena, Rajat Patidar, Mohnish Mishra, Udit Birla, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Rameez Khan, Ankit Sharma, Mihir Hirwani, Ishwar Pandey, Punit Datey, Yogesh Rawat, Avesh Khan and Ankit Dane.
