Vijay Hazare Trophy: Harshal Patel bowls Haryana to Vijay Hazare Trophy title
Rajkot, Dec 16: Harshal Patel bowled a game-changing spell with the old ball as Haryana beat Rajasthan by 30 runs in a well-contested final to lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Saturday.
Having scored 287 for 8 in 50 overs, Haryana were given a tough fight by Rajasthan, who were cruising at 201 for 4 with opener Abhijeet Tomar (106 off 129 balls) along with Kunal Singh Rathore (79 off 65 balls) slowly taking the team towards the target.
However, Harshal (3/47 in 9 overs) showed his wares by varying the pace of his deliveries in a game changing second five-over spell in which he gave away only 16 runs but picked both set batters to snuff out any chance that Rajasthan had. They were all-out for 257 in 48 overs.
No praise is enough for all-rounder Sumit Kumar (3/34 in 6 overs), who ran through Rajasthan top-order after scoring a quickfire 28 not out off 16 balls and also took a blinder inside the circle to win the 'Player of Match' as well as 'Player of Series'.
He scored 183 runs in lower-order at over 100 strike-rate and took 18 wickets in 10 games.
Credit must also be given to Haryana skipper Ashok Menaria, who had a good game with the bat and then marshalled his resources well, including bringing in Harshal, which turned out to be master-stroke.
Menaria, who had once been a Rajasthan skipper, didn't indulge in any overt celebrations, after leading his adopted state to first senior national trophy in 32 years (after Ranji Trophy 1991).
At the start of the innings, all-rounder Sumit Kumar, who opens the bowling, was lethal in his first spell as Rajasthan were quickly reduced to 12 for 3, which included wickets of two IPL regulars in Mahipal Lomror (2) and skipper Deepak Hooda (0).
However, opener Tomar did found an ally in Karan Lamba (20) as they added 68 runs for the fourth wicket but Haryana still had the upper-hand when the latter was dismissed.
But it was left-hander Kunal Singh Rathore, who smashed 79 off 65 balls, with some mighty heaves on the on-side to keep them in the hunt. He added 121 with Tomar and dominated the stand with five maximums.
But once he started developing cramps and when Harshal came back for his second spell, things changed. Tomar failed to clear Sumit while trying to loft the seamer over mid-off, while Rathore was holed out in the deep at long-off.
Earlier, after opting to bat, it was in-form Ankit Kumar (88 off 91 balls) and his veteran skipper Ashok Menaria (70 off 96 balls), who put up 124 for the third wicket to lay the foundation for a competitive score.
Ankit, who had hit a century in the quarter-final against Bengal, was once again in his element, hitting 12 crisp boundaries and a six off Ajay Singh Kukna.
Menaria, on the other hand, was patient as he hit eight fours, which also included some drives through on-side.
It was all-rounders Nishant Sindhu (29 off 22 balls), Rahul Tewatia (24 off 18 balls) and Sumit Kumar (28 off 16 balls), all of whom used long handle to good effect to take Haryana pass the 285-run mark.
Save veteran left-arm seamer Aniket Chaudhary (4/49 in 10 overs), the only other bowler, who impressed was out of favour leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (1/39 in 9 overs).
Brief Scores:
Haryana 287/8 (Ankit Kumar 88, Ashok Menaria 70, Aniket Chaudhary 4/49)
Rajasthan 257 in 48 overs (Abhijit Tomar 106, Kunal Singh Rathore 79, Harshal Patel 3/49, Sumit Kumar 3/34).
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐚 are WINNERS of the #VijayHazareTrophy 2023-24! 🙌
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 16, 2023
Congratulations to the Ashok Menaria-led unit on winning the #VijayHazareTrophy 🏆 👏@IDFCFIRSTBank | #Final
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/0ub38RC4x8 pic.twitter.com/2wQri6HS0Y
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Noida International Airport appoints Nitu Samra as interim CEO
New Delhi (PTI): Noida International Airport on Friday announced the appointment of its Chief Financial Officer Nitu Samra as the interim Chief Executive Officer after authorities denied permission for foreign national Christoph Schnellmann to be at the helm.
"This change follows directions issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the Chief Executive Officer of an airport in India is required to be an Indian national," NIA said in a statement.
Samra will replace Schnellmann, a Swiss national who has led Noida International Airport (NIA) as the CEO since August 2020.
The regulatory issue related to the requirement of having an Indian national as CEO has been delaying the start of commercial operations of the airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
Schnellmann will join the airport's Board of Directors as Executive Vice Chairman. In this role, he will continue to support the project and its transition to operations, the statement said.
With immediate effect, NIA said Samra has been appointed as the CEO on an interim basis until the Board of Directors can conclude a formal selection process.
Samra has been serving as the CFO since October 2021 and was closely involved in the airport’s development journey, overseeing financial stewardship, governance, and strategic planning during a key phase of the project, the statement added.
NIA will be operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership.
Originally scheduled to commence passenger services in September 2024, NIA is being developed in four phases, along with a dedicated cargo terminal. It received an aerodrome license from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in March.
YIAPL Chairman Daniel Bircher said that since the inauguration of the airport by the Prime Minister, the goal was to enable the start of operations as early as possible.
"This management change brings the airport into compliance with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security requirements while maintaining continuity in the airport’s leadership team. The newly structured team will support a smooth transition into operations, guided by clear and transparent governance and a strong corporate culture," he said.
On March 28, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said commercial flight operations from the airport would start in the next 45 to 60 days.
Among the largest greenfield airport projects in the country, NIA will initially have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per annum.
Once fully developed, the airport will have a total passenger handling capacity of 70 million.
The first phase of NIA has been developed at an investment of around Rs 11,200 crore. 'DXN' is the code for the airport.
The airport features a 3,900-metre runway capable of handling wide-body aircraft, along with modern navigation systems, including Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airfield lighting.
The peak handling capacity in the first phase will be 30 flights per hour.
In the first phase, there will be 28 aircraft stands, and the projected cargo capacity is around 2.5 lakh tonnes.
Terminal 1 of the airport is spread across 1,37,985 square metres with 48 check-in counters. Over 40 acres of land have been earmarked for developing MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
