Irani match shifted to Nagpur

We live in the visual age. So it comes as no surprise that the Doordarshan programming schedule for the month has put off VVS Laxman's comeback to first-class cricket by a day.

A fully-fit Laxman, the captain of the Rest of India side for the Irani Trophy clash against Ranji champions Baroda, will take the field on October 13 instead of October 12.

BCCI executive secretary Sharad Diwadkar said in Mumbai that the match was postponed by a day to ensure that Doordarshan had no problems in showing the match live to the millions of cricket lovers in every nook and cranny of India.

Heavy showers in Pune have also seen the match being relocated to Nagpur.

The Irani Trophy is the domestic season opener. VK Ramaswamy of Hyderabad and Vijay Chopra of Delhi are the two umpires for the four-day match that will end on October 17. Bhagwandas Suthar of Madhya Pradesh will be the match-referee.

Laxman has only recently recovered from a knee injury that he sustained during India's tour of Sri Lanka. The Irani trophy match will be important for him as it will help him prepare for the upcoming Test series against South Africa.

Rest Of India (from):

VVS Laxman (Captain), Akash Chopra, Rahul Sanghvi, Vinayak Mane, Dinesh Mongia, Sarandeep Singh, Yere Gowda, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Debasish Mohanty, Ajay Ratra, Salab Srivastava, Tinnu Yohannan, Surindra Singh

Baroda (from):

Connor Williams (Captain), Satyajit Parab, Nayan Mongia (w.k.), Tushar Arothe, Himanshu Jadhav, Rakesh Solanki, Rakesh Patel, Irfan Pathan Jr., Irfan Pathan Sr., Umang Patel, Milap Mewada, Hrishikesh Parab, Harkid Parmar. Vinit Wadkar(Coach)