After a defeat at the hands of Baroda in the last match, Saurashtra need a victory against Services in their final group B match starting here tomorrow, to secure a quarter-final place in the Ranji Trophy.
Saurashtra have earned 16 points from seven matches so far, and even if they win against Services, they depend on the outcomes of Baroda - Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - Bengal ties.
Baroda have 20 points while Tamil Nadu and Bengal have 18 points each.
"We had a bad game against Baroda, but still we have not given up our hopes to enter into quarterfinals," Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah said.
"We played some good cricket this season but one bad game against Baroda has shattered hopes," Shah said, adding that the hosts would like to finish the season on a positive note by winning the last league match.
Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Sagar Jogiyani and Jaydev Shah would carry batting responsibility while Jaydev Unadkat would spearhead bowling in the company of Abhishek Bhatt, Kamlesh Makwana, Dharmendra Jadeja and Vishal Joshi for the hosts.
Services have nothing to lose as they are at bottom of the points table at six points.
Pratik Desai, captain Soumik Chatterjee, Nakul Verma, Rajat Paliwal and Yashpal Singh would shoulder batting responsibility while Suraj Yadav, Irfan Khan, Koteshwar Rao and R Kanojia are the bowlers for the Services.
Teams (from):
Saurashtra: Jaydev Shah (Capt), Jaydev Unadkat (VC), Sagar Jogiyani, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Rahul Dave, Kamlesh Makwana, Nayan Doshi, Dharmendra Jadeja, Abhishek Bhatt, Chirag Pathak, Saurya Sanandiya, Vishal Joshi, Prithvipal Sinh Solanki and Harsh Anghan.
Services: Soumik Chatterjee (Capt), Pratik Desai, Anshul Gupta, Yashpal Singh, S R Swain, Rajat Paliwal, Sarabjeet Singh, Suraj Yadav, Shadab Naar, Nakul Verma, Nishan Singh, Koteshwar Rao, R Kanojia, Irfan Khan and Vishnu Tiwari.
