Vadodara-UP match will be an acid test for Irfan Pathan

Vadodara, Jan 1 (UNI) Vadodara seamer Irfan Pathan will be the star attraction when the hosts take on defending champions Uttar Pradesh in their penultimate Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match to be played at IPCL Stadium here tomorrow.

The BCA officials and local cricket pundits feel that the two remaining Ranji matches of Vadodara against UP and Tamil Nadu are going to be acid tests for Irfan as his return to team India for the forthcoming West Indies and Sri Lanka home series would depend much on how he performs in Ranji.

Irfan, who was recently sent back home midway from South Africa by the Indian think tank for his lacklustre performance there today joined his team mates in a three-hour rigorous work-out and the net sessions at the IPCL ground. Vadodara coach Ashok Mankad said the decision of the Indian team management seems to have had no demolarising effect on the speedster. ''Irfan looks unnerved and was confident at the nets, and his return to Vadodara team has undoubtedly boosted the morale of the players,'' he added.

Optimistic about the chances of Vadodara making it to the last four this season, Mankad said Vadodara, now leading the table with 13 points from five matches, requires only one win from the remaining two matches to be through to the semi-finals.

On the other hand, defending champions UP, led by Mohammad Kaif, are far behind in the table with only 4 points from five matches. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka closely follow Vadodara with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Last year, UP, who won the Ranji Trophy defeating Bengal in the finals, had conceeded five points to Vadodara for their innings defeat in the league match at Kanpur.

However, Vadodara skipper Jacob Martin and other members of the team are enthused as Irfan will be playing his first Ranji match for the side after he made his debut for India at the Adelaide Test against Australia in December, 2003. Prior to his Australia tour, Irfan had played his last Ranji match for Vadodara against Andhra in November, 2003, when Vadodara lost by 7 wickets.

Following are the teams: Vadodara (from): Jacob Martin (cap), Satyajit Parab, Connor Williams, Rishikesh Parab, Ajit Bhoite, Ketan Panchal, Irfan Pathan (Jr), Pinal Shah (wk) Rajesh Pawar, Rakesh Patel, Irfan Pathan (Sr), Rakesh Solanki, Satrunjay Gaekwad and Dishant Mehta.

Uttar Pradesh (from): Md. Kaif (cap), Suresh Raina, Piyush Chowla, Ali Murtuza, Jyoti Yadav, Pravin Kumar, Amir Khan (wk), Rudra Pratap Singh, S J Srivastav, Pravin Gupta, Ratnesh Mishra, Ravikant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastav, Utkarsh Chandra and Zaiby.

UNI