New Delhi, Dec 23 : It will be a battle between Tamil Nadu batsmen and Delhi bowlers when they meet in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals at the Palam ground here Thursday.

It were medium-pacers who bowled Delhi into the knockout round as they bounced back from the penultimate place in Group B. Their batting, too, is strengthened for this match with the return of regular openers, former captain Aakash Chopra and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan from illness and injury.

Chopra skipped the last three Super League games, first because of his marriage and then flu. Dhawan, who opened the season with a double century against Baroda, also missed three matches with a thumb injury suffered in the match against Uttar Pradesh.

The two should certainly bolster the batting which was a little unsteady with only wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht, middle-order bat Mithun Manhas and skipper Rajat Bhatia propping it up. Bisht hit two centuries this, both coming at crucial stages, and Manhas one from the three matches he played.

Bhatia scored four half centuries that include a fighting 99 against Maharashtra despite cramps.

Interestingly, Bhatia made his Ranji Trophy debut for Tamil Nadu and seldom failed against them.

Delhi's pace battery, comprising Parvinder Awana, Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan and Pawan Suyal, fully exploited the wintry northern conditions to pick up wickets at regular intervals. While Awana has 23 wickets, Narwal and Sangwan 17 each. Suyal chipped in with
13.

Unlike the green top at Roshanara for their last two games against Saurashtra and Maharashtra, the Palam pitch is reputed to be batsman friendly.

Bhatia said toss can be crucial. "It is a good wicket. But we can also see a little bit of grass. The wicket played easy in most of the Twenty20 matches played here in recent times.

"Toss can play a crucial role but a lot will depend on how the side batting first uses the conditions," Bhatia said.

Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, with two wins and no loss have been the toppers of Group A. Five of their top-order batsmen scored hundreds.

Subramanium Badrinath, with three centuries and two half centuries, including a double century against defending champions Mumbai, is among the top run-getters this season. Stand-in skipper Murali Vijay and Chandrasekhar Ganapathy hit two centuries each while Arun Karthik has a century and four half centuries.

The team, in their last league match against Hyderabad scored 785 in the first innings with Mukund getting a double century and Ganapathy and Badrinath a century each.

In bowling, 16-year-old R. Aushik Srinivas is their champion spinner with 21 wickets, 7-107 against Mumbai being his best figures. Ganapathy (18), Lakshmipathy Balaji (16)and R. Ashwin (15) have also been among wickets.

Bhatia acknowledges Tamil Nadu's strong batting line-up, but he is confident that his bowlers would keep them in check.

"Their batsmen are getting runs but our bowlers are also getting wickets. We are in the quarterfinals because of our bowlers. It will depend how quick can we get to their middle order and tail," said Bhatia.

"But our batsmen have been doing well, too, and with the return of Shikhar and Chopra, we are confident of doing well."

Tamil Nadu coach W. V. Raman said the side which will bat well will go further in the competition.

"We are not worried about how the pitch behaves. It is something hosts should worry about. But the pitch will dictate our final composition.

"What both the teams have done in the past does not matter now. Whoever bats well, that side will go further. That has been the history of Ranji Trophy," Raman said.

"It is a knockout round, so our past performances with the bat will have no bearing in this match. Yes, the good performances definitely have given us the confidence.

On Delhi bowling, Raman said: "Delhi have always banked on their medium-pacers than spinners with the exception of Maninder Singh."

Teams:

Delhi: Rajat Bhatia (captain), Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Aditya Jain, Puneet Bisht (wicketkeeper), Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Parvinder Awana, Pawan Suyal, Vikas Mishra, Gaurav Chabbra, Abhishek Nagar, Mayank Tehlan, Ankur Julka.

Tamil Nadu: M. Vijay (captain), Abhinav Mukund, K. B. Arun Karthik, Subramanium Badrinath, S. Anirudha, C. Ganapathy, R. Ashwin, U. Sushil (wicket-keeper), L. Balaji, R. Suthesh, R. Aushik Srinivas, R. Satish, R. Prasanna, M. Prabhu, P. Amarnath, K. H. Gopinath

Umpires: Sudhir Asnani, S. D. Ranade. (IANS)