When Jammu and Kashmir travelled to Mumbai final month, not many anticipated the crew to defeat the home large in its den.
However the visiting crew not solely bagged a convincing win on a red-soil floor but in addition adopted it up with one other convincing win in opposition to Baroda to storm into the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals because the table-topper from Elite Group A.
Shubham Khajuria, who has been J&Okay’s highest run-getter this season, believes that practising frequently on red-soil pitches helped the crew dominate in opposition to Baroda and Mumbai.
“We didn’t have red-soil surfaces in J&Okay earlier than. We’d at all times play on black-soil wickets however the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Affiliation (JKCA) ready red-soil surfaces for our coaching in Jammu and since we practised on these pitches, it helped us,” Khajuria instructed Sportstar on Friday.
“Earlier, we might put together on black-soil pitches and that’s why we struggled to regulate whereas enjoying on crimson soil. However this time, since we have been nicely ready, it was of immense assist,” he added.
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With a long-term view in thoughts, the JKCA launched a red-soil floor on the GGM Science Faculty floor in Jammu, and in keeping with Mithun Manhas, former cricketer and a member of the JKCA sub-committee, the thought was to make sure that our boys don’t wrestle on the red-soil surfaces discovered within the western and southern elements of India.
The JKCA is at present growing eight squares on the Science Faculty floor, 4 of which is able to characteristic red-soil surfaces, whereas the opposite 4 will likely be black-soil pitches tailor-made to go well with native circumstances.
Whereas this method helped, the J&Okay gamers have additionally been in a position to execute the plans to perfection thus far. Forward of the knockout fixture, Khajuria is cautious of squandering begins.
“In Mumbai, I hit a fallacious shot whereas batting on 45, and within the final match in opposition to Baroda, I missed out on a century by six runs. So, if I get a begin now, I must convert it,” the batter mentioned.
“And in such an vital match, being a senior participant, I want to make sure that I don’t repeat the identical errors.”