Gujarat cricket needs to pull up its socks

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat cricket is on a high these days. First they became the zonal champions of the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament and then shifted gears to the T20 format smoothly and once again emerged the champions of the West Zone leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament played in Ahmedabad recently.
Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel was very confident that his side will put up a good show at the All-India Super League of the tournament.However, their three-wicket win over Odisha, in Indore on Tuesday, was anything but a convincing victory and the side needs to pull up their socks sooner rather than later if they are to leave a mark at the national level.
In that match, Gujarat bowlers did a good job by reducing the East Zone champions to five for two by the third over but then let them off the hook and allowed them to get to a respectable 151. The Gujarat bowling attack was pretty descent till the zonal stages but they faltered when thrown in the deep. It looks like Surat’s pace battery, Mehul Patel, who was impressive against Odisha, will have to hold up one end in the upcoming matches.
The batting too looked a bit brittle for Gujarat as it has over a period of time, shown its over-dependence on their skipper and national team discard Parthiv. Gujarat can take heart from the fact that their veteran player Niraj Patel, who hit 40 runs against Odisha, is in good form and capable of taking the pressure off Parthiv.