IMAGE: Ravindra Jadeja will boost Saurashtra's bowling attack at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot where 31 wickets fell to spin in their opening round match against Karnataka. Photograph: BCCI
Saurashtra will be bolstered by the presence of India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja against a strong Madhya Pradesh when the second round of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B matches begins from Saturday.
Jadeja's left-arm spin will boost Saurashtra's bowling attack at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot where 31 wickets fell to spin in their opening round match against Karnataka last week.
Saurashtra's middle-order had a rather flimsy look to it against Karnataka, particularly after the retirement of Cheteshwar Pujara.
But Jadeja's arrival will lend some amount of solidity to the home side's batting. The 36-year-old India all-rounder had made an unbeaten 104 against the West Indies in the first Test in Ahmedabad.
Madhya Pradesh will hope that skipper Rajat Patidar, who made an unbeaten 205 against Punjab, Venkatesh Iyer, and Yash Dubey will continue to make some hefty contributions.
Similarly, Saurashtra will want their younger names such as Harvik Desai, Prerak Mankad and the seasoned Arpit Vasavada to come good against a capable MP
bowling unit.
The visitors will pin their hopes on spinners Kumar Kartikeya, Shubham Sharma and Saransh Jain to keep Saurashtra on the backfoot.
They had nearly spun MP to a win over Punjab, plucking five wickets in the second innings before rain washed out the rest of the final day's proceedings.
Karnataka eye Goa scalp
After squandering a golden chance to garner three points against Saurashtra, Karnataka will be looking to pocket as many points as possible against a confident Goa at Shimoga.
On the paper, Karnataka are firm favourites to gain at least three points but the way Goa hammered Chandigarh for an innings victory underlines that they are no longer mere pushovers.
They have some proven performers like Lalit Yadav, Darshan Misal and Suyash Prabhudesai who can challenge any team on their days.
Karnataka, on the other hand, will eye some big runs from their premier batters to pile pressure on Goa.
Skipper Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Karun Nair and R Smaran, all made fifties against Saurashtra without converting them into a big score.
On the bowling front, they have enough resources in Shreyas Gopal, Shikhar Shetty and Mohsin Khan to keep Goa batters on tenterhooks.
In the other Group B matches, last year's runners-up Kerala will face Punjab at Mullanpur, while Chandigarh will be up against Maharashtra at home.