Priyansh Arya (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist Lav) New Delhi: Delhi’s Ranji Trophy campaign got off to a good start last week as the team secured three points against Hyderabad. However, age-old selection problems are again plaguing the side, which will take on Himachal Pradesh in the second match here on Saturday. Opener Priyansh Arya is also likely to be on the bench for this game despite earning a call-up to India ‘A’ after a stellar IPL season. Arya scored a hundred in the only match he played for India ‘A’ against Australia ‘A’ last month. Arya is yet to make a first-class debut. Last season, after getting a Rs 3.8 crore IPL contract, he was almost dropped from Vijay Hazare’s Delhi team without playing a match before Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley intervened in the matter. Delhi is trying to find a stable partner to open Sanat Sangwan. The selectors keep coming back to Arpit Rana, who scored just 84 runs in five first-class matches. “The gripe of the selectors and the team management is that Arpit got three crucial lower-order wickets against Hyderabad and it would be unfair to drop him after just one innings,” a DDCA source told TOI on Friday. In Delhi cricket, the perception is that Arya is not suitable for red ball cricket. Arya sat out the regular season when he was forced to play U-23 cricket, although he made his T20 and List A debut for Delhi the season before. Head coach Sarandeep Singh and the selectors will be under immense pressure if Arpit struggles to make it to the match against Himachal at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The pitch has retained a fair amount of green and with the temperatures dropping in the capital, it’s likely that the seamers will get some good help with the new ball early in the morning. Delhi captain Ayush Badoni, who is scheduled to leave for Bengaluru immediately after this match to play for India ‘A’ against South Africa ‘A’, will also be hoping for a steady opening partnership. Arya’s best chance of a first-class debut still hinges on Badoni’s potential absence in the next game. India’s ‘A’ match begins on October 30 and overlaps with another Ranji tie in Delhi on November 1. Apart from the talk around the openers, pacers Navdeep Saini and Simarjeet Singh will also be under the scanner. Simarjeet hasn’t played much first-class cricket in recent years, while Saini has struggled to get between the wickets in the last two seasons.
