Delhi captain Virender Sehwag with Ishant Sharma and Virat Kohli during a practice session in Vadodara on Tuesday

Calcutta/Vadodara: Bengal mediumpacer Ashok Dinda, who has been included in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy against Ranji Trophy champions Delhi, is unlikely to make the playing XI.

With Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and R.P. Singh in the ranks, Dinda’s chances were always slim. The mediumpacer got a place in the squad thanks to his impressive show in the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

A gem of a knock or a magical spell over the next five days would do what truckloads of runs and sackful of wickets over a season’s trundling cannot and hence the Irani Cup match between Ranji champions Delhi and Rest of India starting here Wednesday would be more of a battle among 22 individuals rather than two outfits.

It’s a gilt-edged opportunity for all to impress the men who matter and grab berths in the Test team, which would take on Ricky Ponting’s Australia in another fortnight.

Individually, no one seems to have more at stake than Rahul Dravid. Selectors have already shoved the bitter pill down Sourav Ganguly’s throat and no one realises it better than fellow thirty-something Dravid that time is ticking by for him.

Like Sourav, he too proved a dud with the bat in Sri Lanka and though he was lucky to escape the boot, Dravid badly needs to cash in on this end of the rope thrown by the selectors and prove that he is not past the sell-by date.

Interestingly, teammate Mohammed Kaif is more or less in a similar tricky situation. Once touted the future captain, Kaif’s has been one of the most incredible slides in recent times till he finally arrested the free-fall and clawed his way back into the reckoning.

The cultured 94 for India A against the Australian colts did help as did Ganguly’s ouster but in case Kaif lets go this opportunity it may not come knocking again.

Like him, Parthiv Patel too has gone through the grind before finally helping himself to an opportunity to prove his mettle. The baby-faced left-hander is set to open the innings with Mumbaikar Wasim Jaffer who faces a similar challenge.

In the middle order, V.V.S. Laxman can breathe easy indeed, for he did manage to salvage some reputation in Sri Lanka and going by his jaw-dropping record against the Aussies, there is no such air of uncertainty around the stylish Hyderabadi.

For Delhi, the tie comes as an opportunity to make amends for losing the Mohammed Nissar Trophy to the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited.

Sehwag himself was woefully out of form and though Aakash Chopra and Virat Kohli stacked runs after runs in the second innings, it was too late by then and the Pakistani side ran away with the silverware, thanks to their first innings lead.

For Chopra, it would be another occasion to send the message across that he has mastered the art of crafting, which may not look glamorous because of its painstaking nature but can be effective in the longer version of the game.

For Delhi, neither Sehwag nor his deputy Gautam Gambhir have anything new to prove but teammate and comeback man Ashish Nehra is itching to prove those critics wrong who had penned the obituary of his stop-start career.

Nehra, in the Mumbai Indians colours, sizzled in the IPL and looked sharp in Mohammed Nissar Trophy as well. Bowling against the likes of Laxman, Dravid, Kaif and M.S. Dhoni would surely bring out the best in the lanky pacer.

In contrast, fellow pacer Ishant Sharma is almost sure of a place in the Indian side for the Test series against Australia. Still, how Ishant fares against the Laxmans and Dravids would give an idea about his preparation for the Aussies.

Teams:

RoI (from): Anil Kumble (C), M.S. Dhoni (wk), S. Badrinath, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, Wasim Jaffer, Mohammed Kaif, Zaheer Khan, V.V.S. Laxman, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel and R.P. Singh

Delhi (from): Virender Sehwag (C), Narender Singh, Amit Bhandari, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht (wk), Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Mithun Manhas, Chetanya Nanda, Ashish Nehra, Pradeep Sangwan, Ishant Sharma, Mayank Tehlan