Gambhir, Sehwag fail against Haryana

India discards Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag failed to deliver the goods against Haryana, leaving Delhi at 194 for eight in the first innings on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match at the Roshnara Club Ground here Thursday.

Delhi captain Gambhir managed 29 and Virender Sehwag three as Delhi were left struggling at 55 for four in the first innings at lunch.

Sehwag’s poor form with the bat continued in third consecutive matches. In the last five innings, he has scored 1, 15, 9 and 35 not out.

Gambhir has got starts in the last two matches against Gujarat and Mumbai but failed to convert them into big scores, that would have attracted the attention of the national selectors, who are likely to meet next week to pick the team for the tour to South Africa.

Against Gujarat in the drawn match, Gambhir had scores of 31 and 44 and in the last match against Mumbai, that also ended his a draw, he had scored 64 and 51 (retired hurt).

At home against Haryana, who were praised by Sachin Tendulkar during the legend’s farewell domestic match at Lahli, Delhi are now clearly in trouble.

It was young fast bowler Sanjay Budhwar, who removed the opening batsmen Unmukt Chand (1) and Gambhir while comeback man Joginder Sharma (2/32) removed Sehwag and Mithun Manhas (9), both caught behind by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini. Budhwar finished with four for 56.

Crucial knocks from the veteran Rajat Bhatia (39) and Puneet Bisht (33) saved Delhi the blushes.

Meanwhile, it was a day dominated by bowlers as five teams were bowled out on the first day while five are still struggling to survive with their tails up.

In Mohali, the Group A match between Punjab and Gujarat saw 16 wickets fall on the first day. While Punjab were bowled out for 172, Gujarat ended the day struggling at 61 for six.

Scores:

Group A

In Delhi: Delhi 194/8 (Gambhir 29, Sehwag 3) vs. Haryana

In Mohali: Punjab 172 (Jiwanjot 86, Bumrah 5-52) vs. Gujarat 61/6 (Sandeep Sharma 3-43)

In Nagpur: Vidarbha 244/ 2 (Fazal 139 not out) vs. Karnataka

In Cuttack: Jharkhand 221 (Tiwary 67, Mohanty 5-60) vs. Odisha 37/1

Group B

In Meerut: Tamil Nadu 258/7 (Aparajith 60, Prasanna 104 not out, Aswin Crist 54 not out, RP 2-59) vs. Uttar Pradesh

In Kolkata: Bengal 303 (Shukla 155) vs Saurashtra 0/0

In Jaipur: Railways 223/7 vs Rajasthan

In Delhi: Madhya Pradesh 236/9 (N Ojha 63) v Services

Group C

In Dharmasala: Hyderabad 237 (Suman 65, R Dhawan 5-75) vs. Himachal

In Pune: Maharashtra 361/3 (Khadiwale 147 not out, K Jadhav 106) v Goa

In Anantapur: J&K 173/6 vs. Andhra Pradesh

In Agartala: Tripura 136 (Nechim 3-37) vs. Assam 85/ 1