TNPL 2017: VB Thiruvallur Veerans take on in-form Dindigul Dragons
VB Thiruvallur Veerans will look to bounce back from their opening loss when they take on a pumped-up Dindigul Dragons at the India Cements Ltd Ground, Tirunelveli, on Friday.
VB Thiruvallur Veerans are a young and inexperienced side, and it showed in their performance against the Chepauk Super Gillies. The Veerans will look to their top order of NS Chaturvedi, Hari Nishaanth and B Aparajith to get them off to a good start. Malolan Rangarajan is a vital cog in the Thiruvallur side, and he will be expected to anchor the innings in the middle. In a side stacked with all-rounders, the team will look for all of them to pitch in with bat and ball.
In the bowling department, the Veerans will be led by the experienced Rahil Shah. Youngsters like Hari Nishaanth, Sanjay Yadav and Jaganath Sinivas can create a great impact.
Dindigul Dragons have had contrasting outings in the 2017 India Cements Ltd TNPL. They lost the tournament opener to Albert TuTi Patriots, but bounced back with a thumping win against Madurai Super Giant.
Their decision to open the batting with Subramania Siva in the second game paid off as he dispatched the bowlers to all parts of the ground. Open Ganga Sridhar Raju, too, has been steady at the top, getting the side off to good starts.
Wicketkeeper-batsman N. Jagadeesan, who topped the batting charts last season, will also look to find his groove.
The bowling unit of Dindigul Dragons is very strong with the likes of T Natarajan, M Ashwin, Sunny Kumar Singh and MS Sanjay in the mix. The Dragons seem like a well-rounded side and have all their bases covered.
Key contest: How Veerans opener NS Chaturved handles the fiery pace of Didingul Dragons T Natarajan will be worth watching.
Head to head: Dragons 1, Veerans 0 (Dindigul Dragons beat VB Thiruvallur Veerans by 29 runs in 2016)