Ishant Sharma set to play against Baroda

Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma will be walking into the playing XI as Delhi's pace attack gets ready to ask probing questions to a gritty Baroda in their fifth Ranji Trophy Group D match starting at the Palam Ground from Friday.

Ishant, the seasoned speedster with 100 plus Tests, is committed to playing Delhi's home games and the player to sit out could be Prince Yadav.

The cold, damp weather in Delhi will aid seam bowlers despite the Air Force ground in Palam being a flat deck.

If there is no sunshine and the moisture underneath the surface doesn't dry quickly enough, Ishant, although well past his prime, along with Navdeep Saini and Himanshu Chauhan, will be a handful for the likes of Shivalik Sharma.

The mere presence of Ishant in the team adds a sound cricketing mind who can help young skipper Himmat Singh in decision making.

He was not in the best of form versus Puducherry but would certainly look to make amends for that opening game loss.

The match was supposed to be played at Feroz Shah Kotla but the ground is now being prepared for the Women's Premier League (WPL).

The come-from-behind victory against Uttarakhand in Mohali has certainly boosted the morale of the team and there is still a fair chance for Himmat Singh's men to make it to the quarter-final if they to register three outright wins in a row starting with game against Baroda.

The skipper himself has proved to be an inspiration with his match-winning 194 after Delhi were reduced to 14 for 5 in the second innings against Uttarakhand but it was a one-off freak effort which can't be expected to happen every time.

In order to remain relevant, Delhi would pray that the weather opens up making it a good batting deck and the batters at least try and perform up to expectations.

Ayush Badoni, the team's designated vice-captain, was dropped from 15 in the last game at the expense of Delhi cricket's most controversial pick, Kshitiz Sharma.

With scores of 8 and 0 and having failed to look like a batter who deserves to play elite group first-class cricket, it would be interesting to see if he retains his place in the eleven.