According to coach, Arun Sharma, Indian team cricketers Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Gurkeerat Mann will join the Punjab team for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match to be played against Assam at Valsad from February 3. Placed in Group B, Punjab finished the league phase at second position with 26 points, and will look forward to putting their best foot forward against Assam and secure a semi-final berth. The Punjab coach, who is also a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, and a former junior national selector, feels that the Punjab team is geared up for the challenge and will be bolstered with the presence Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Gurkeerat’s in the team. He said, “We have been playing practice matches after the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy concluded. We did well in the Ranji Trophy as well as the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The players are in a good form and raring for the quarterfinal. Usually the wicket at the Valsad ground has a green top and assists the seamers. We have a strategy in mind to counter that. I think it will be a good match. We are confident of delivering the goods against Assam.” Punjab played eight matches in the Ranji Trophy - won three and drew four. Uday Kaul emerged as the highest run-getter for Punjab with 611 runs under his belt in the league stage while Mandeep Singh (469 runs) and Jiwanjot Singh (409 runs) were the other impressive scorers. In the bowling department, leg-spinner Sarbjeet Ladda grabbed the maximum 25 wickets for Punjab. In order to boast its quick bowling department, Punjab has included pacer Jaskaran Singh for the quarterfinal contest. The fact that left-arm pacer Barinder Sran and right-arm pacer Siddharth Kaul did well for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy will boost Punjab’s bowling unit. PCA hosts lunch for victorious Vijay Merchant Trophy U-16 Punjab lads Taking note of their U-16 state team’s effort in the recently held Vijay Merchant Trophy, where they successfully defended the title, Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) hosted a lunch for the young lads on their return to Mohali from Bengaluru. Under the captaincy of Abhishek Sharma, the Punjab boys won the coveted trophy on the basis of a first innings lead in the drawn match against Mumbai in the four-day final. They were coached by Sanjay Mahajan. The PCA hosted the lunch at its I.S. Bindra, PCA Stadium in Mohali. PCA Secretary, MP Pandove who was present on the occasion congratulated the team and lauded their superlative run in the tournament while adding that the association was proud of their achievement. Pandove praised skipper Sharma for his spectacular all-round display during the tournament in which he captured 57 wickets and scored 1,200 runs at an average of 109).

He also exhorted the boys to make winning a habit and wished that they graduate to the next level. He expressed his wish to see most of them represent the state’s U-19 team in a year or two. However, he cautioned that a lot of hard work, perseverance and honing of skills would be required as there is a big difference between the two levels. For PCA, 16-year-old Sharma from Amritsar emerged as the find of the season. The all-rounder, who trains at the Gandhi Cricket Grounds in Amritsar, had an incredible tournament. Pandove hoped the middle-order batsman and leg-spinner, would hold onto the form and do well in the U-19 format in the coming season for Punjab. A new cricket ground to come up at Panjab University Campus For the first time ever the prestigious Panjab University in Chandigarh will have its own well-equipped, modern and independent cricket ground. The University, which has had cricketers like Kapil Dev, Yograj Singh, Dinesh Mongia and Yuvraj Singh as its former students, will roll out the new cricket ground in the coming summer season. Earlier, inter- college and inter-university cricket matches were held in the main ground situated in the PU Campus which also hosted other sports events like athletics, softball, baseball, kabaddi etc. Acknowledging the need to have its own modern cricket ground, the PU authorities decided to convert its Dusshera ground into a cricket ground with modern facilities. A sanction of Rs 50 lakh was approved for this new cricket ground back in 2015. The Panjab University had written to Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) expressing the wish to sign a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with them with regards to this new cricket ground. PU wants to use PCA's expertise in modernising the ground more and providing them with the equipments. Few years back, PCA too had shown a keen interest in such an arrangement and had initiated the request. PCA officials assisted the PU authorities in building and shaping the ground and wickets. Dean of Student Welfare, Dr. Navdeep Goyal, who had conceptualized this idea promises to putting the PU Campus ground to full use and turning it into a remarkable ground. He also plans to come up with a cricket club, offer cricket training facilities at the ground for young trainees and install floodlights in the coming years. The work at the new ground got underway in mid 2015. Bermuda grass was laid at the ground and new turf wickets were built along with practices wickets and much required water-sprinklers. PU authorities also plan to hire more cricket coaches once the ground is ready for use.