on-mandatory, in which case a visiting captain

Novak Djokovic faces Britains Kyle Edmund and Roger Federer also starts his title challenge on Fridays packed schedule at the Miami Open. Djokovic, the defending champion, will take on Edmund in the second round, with the match scheduled to take place at midnight, live on Sky Sports.The 21-year-old secured his first ever match against the world No 1 after a battling three-set win over Jiri Vesely in the first round. Edmund has shown he can handle the big stage while playing in the Davis Cup Djokovic retained his trophy at Indian Wells last week, defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets, and has won four of the last five tournaments in Miami.But Edmund has performed creditably on the big stage before as he extended world No 15 David Goffin to five sets in a battling singles defeat in last years Davis Cup final. Tough comeback for Fed Roger Federer is fit again after undergoing knee surgery Federer will make his comeback from a knee injury when he plays a tricky opening match against Juan Martin Del Potro.The Swiss was forced to undergo surgery after injuring himself while preparing a bath for his daughters, but has quickly returned to fitness.The 17-time Grand Slam winner will need to be match sharp against Del Potro, a former US open champion, who himself has overcome injury problems.Federer has 15 wins from his previous 20 matches against Del Potro, but the pair have not shared the court since the world No 3s victory at the 2013 ATP Tour finals.Best of the rest Dominic Thiem is one of the sports upcoming talents Seventh seed Tomas Berdych takes on American Rajeev Ram, while eighth-seeded David Ferrer has been pitted against another home hope, qualifier Taylor Fritz.Exciting youngster Dominic Thiem, Richard Gasquet, Marin Cilic and Goffin are part of a packed schedule in Florida.Possible upset? Albert Ramos-Vinolas is a potentially tough foe for Richard Gasquet If Federer is short of fitness then he could struggle at first against Del Potro, but should find a way past the towering Argentine.Albert Ramos-Vinolas has performed well this year, reaching a tour semi-final, and he claimed an upset win over Nick Kyrgios at Indian Wells.The Spaniard is capable of pulling off another surprise result against Frenchman Gasquet.Brit interest Johanna Konta can follow Heather Watson into the third round British No 1 Johanna Konta has been drawn against Danka Kovinic in the second round of the womens event.Konta will be hoping to join Heather Watson, who has already reached the third round with a straight sets win over 20th seeded Sloane Stephens.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Federer ready for Miami return Bedene through after fightback ATP schedule Tennis on Sky Konstantinos Mavropanos Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. Alexandre Lacazette Arsenal Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. http://www.arsenalsoccerproshop.com/Authentic-Shkodran-Mustafi-Arsenal-Jersey/ . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Petr Cech Arsenal Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. Arsenal Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. The 2016-17 season of the Ranji Trophy will begin on October 6 in uncertain times for the BCCI, which has been put in the dock after its failure to implement several key Lodha Committee orders.While this may not directly affect the 28 teams and 700-odd players involved in this season, it is impossible to zone out the events that have caused the board much embarrassment this year. Add to that the teams concerns of playing the tournament at neutral venues, a move adopted after a recommendation by the technical committee led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.Chaos has been a constant in the build-up to the season. The board announced the Ranji Trophy schedule on September 2, a little more than a month before its start. There was a push to play the tournament with the pink ball and BCCI president Anurag Thakur even confirmed the move on September 10 although the board had shelved its plans for a day-night Test this season. Several sides then confirmed that they hadnt received the pink ball for training, which forced the board to continue with the existing SG Red ball.To add to this, logistical nightmares sprang up, not entirely of the boards making, with several sides being allotted new venues for their opening games. Political tensions along the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border because of a water dispute forced Karnatakas opening match against Jharkhand, in round two of the tournament, to be moved out of Chennai to Greater Noida. Tamil Nadus clash in Belgaum in December may also be shifted out. The first-round match between Saurashtra-Rajasthan in Chennai was shifted out of the state because of unforeseen issues. It is in this scenario that the ten teams in Group C and nine each in Groups A and B will battle to be domestic champions.The 17 curators in charge of preparing surfaces across the country - up from 10 used last year - will have a tough job of trying to find the middle path. Several curators admitted they were hesitant to prepare either a green surface or a turner for the fear that matches would not last four days. The only difference this season, though, is that with neutral venues teams will not have a distinct home advantage, compared to the previous two seasons when associations were guilty of producing surfaces with varying degrees of dryness and grass cover to suit their needs.Twenty-eight matches finished within three days in 2015-16 compared to 20 in 2014-15. The number of outright wins, too, increased from 56 in 2014-15 to 63 in 2015-16 with the same number of matches played in both seasons (115). While result-oriented games are not a bad thing, there has been a sense that the tailored pitches added an artificial competitive edge to Indias premier domestic competition.Its a little different at the international level, though, since you are looking for wickets and to win matches, former India captain Rahul Dravid said last year, after Odisha were bundled out for 37 against Bengal on what players later described was a paddy field. At the Ranji Trophy level, we are looking to prepare the playerss for the international stage.dddddddddddd What I have seen recently, these wickets are poor. I really dont think its good for Indian cricket because if you think about them its a waste of time, energy and money. The reason for the Ranji Trophy is not only to decide the winner in the end. It also has a job to develop and prepare cricketers for the international stage. And if we keep playing on bad wickets like these, we are not going to develop and produce good cricketers.That said, surfaces in different parts of the country have specific characteristics. It is a given teams will encounter swing in Lahli, spin in Chennai and bounce, to an extent, in Mohali. The problematic bit is when sides try to go out of the norm and tailor tracks according to their needs. Last season, Saurashtra prepared dustbowls to suit their spin-bowling strength, and Ravindra Jadeja picked up a mind-boggling 37 wickets in the first three games.The weather poses another challenge for curators. With winter slowly setting in in early November, lack of sunshine and fog could hinder curators in the northern part of the country, like previous seasons. With conditions suiting the fast bowlers, spinners have been largely redundant. Sample this: Murali Kartik, the former India left-arm spinner, equated pitches in north India to the grass courts at Wimbledon. He bowled all of 71 overs in seven games in his final Ranji Trophy season, in 2013-14; ten of those were seam-up. It raises the question of whether there is a case to be made for docking points from teams for under-prepared surfaces, instead of adopting neutral venues. A few coaches have also suggested that the system of home and away matches could continue without a toss being non-mandatory, in which case a visiting captain could choose to bat or bowl. This was trialled during the recent English county season.Moving away from surfaces to teams, the usual suspects - Mumbai, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu [under new coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar] and Delhi - look strong favourites once again, while Uttar Pradesh and Punjab will be the dark horses. Chhattisgarhs addition as the 28th side will add some mystery for sides in Group C. The new entrants have proved competitive in their two preparatory tournaments - they finished runners-up at the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament in Chennai and won the Bapuna Cup organised by the Vidarbha Cricket Association in Nagpur. Chhattisgarh will be eager to take that form into their maiden first-class season, after a decade-and-a-half long battle for recognition.With India set to host England, Bangladesh and Australia after the New Zealand series, players on the fringes of the national side will have the added incentive of trying to catch the selectors eye in the immediate future, should replacements be sought at different stages. What better way to serve notice than by performing at venues far different from the ones theyve grown up on? ' ' '