Iyer, Lad miss opening game Mumbai, 41-time champions, will begin their title defence against Tamil Nadu in Lahli without the services of the injured duo of Shreyas Iyer and Siddhesh Lad. While Iyer hasnt yet recovered from a quadricep injury he picked up during India As tour of Australia last month, Lad is suffering from back spasms. Mumbais chairman of selectors Milind Rege said Lad had had a recurrence of an old injury. We will wait on his progress in the next five to seven days, but we hope that Iyer will be fit for the next game [against Baroda in Delhi from October 13], he said.Iyer was the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 with 1321 from 11 games at an average of 73.38. Lad has established himself in the middle order in recent times, and scored a crucial 88 in the final against Saurashtra last year. Injury to two key players could translate into a debut for Armaan Jaffer, who has been a heavy run-scorer for Mumbai at the Under-19 level. He was more-recently part of Indias Under-19 World Cup squad.Shifting of venues The Rajasthan-Saurashtra game in the opening round has been shifted to Vizianagaram from Chennai because of the hosting of the senior womens one-day league. The second match in Chennai between Karnataka and Jharkhand from October 13 to 16 has also been moved to Greater Noida in the wake of the tense situation in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka following the Cauvery verdict.Tamil Nadus camp in Dehradun Tamil Nadu has had a week-long preparatory camp in Dehradun to get accustomed to the conditions they will be facing during the first half of their campaign in the northern states. Tamil Nadu play their first three matches in Lahli, Bilaspur and Dharamsala.Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund said his team wanted to practice on black soil-based pitches. Our main intention was to practice in mostly similar weather and also similar pitch conditions, Abhinav said. The Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun, where we trained, is one of the best facilities I have been in across India. Whatever we asked for - be it the pitches, the gym, the food - we got it.We tried all sort of pitches here - there were a couple of those where the ball kept low, some of those had good carry. We did match scenarios and had center-wicket practice every day. So, from a preparation point of view, things were very good.Unmukt to lead DelhiUnmukt Chand will lead Delhi in their opening game against Assam in Vadodara in the absence of Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, both on national duty. Unmukt had led India to the Under-19 World Cup title in 2012 in Australia. He has also captained Delhi on a few occasions in the past. However, Unmukts returns in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 were middling, as he managed only 439 runs from 14 innings.Focus on uniformity in pitch preparation Daljeet Singh, the chairman of the BCCIs ground & pitches committee, said the emphasis was on making good cricket pitches for the Ranji Trophy. The pitches will be prepared by curators of the host state associations, while the boards curators will travel to different venues at various points to monitor the pitches.We had a two-day workshop in Mumbai where curators of all associations were present, and the only thing that was discussed was about making good pitches for a four-day match, Daljeet told ESPNcricinfo. A good four-day match starts with a little grass and then flattens out to become a good batting track later before having wear and tear in the end.When asked about the instructions given to curators a few years ago to retain 4mm grass on the pitch, Daljeet said there were never any standing guidelines. The 4mm grass was the interpretation of a few people. If you have 4mm grass in Lahli, the match will be over in one-and-a-half days, he said. It is only about uniformity in pitch-preparation, and we have only given general guidelines about good cricketing pitches. Cheap Shoes Ireland . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. New Balance Ireland Outlet .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.newbalancesaleireland.com/ . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Cheap New Balance Ireland .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. New Balance Ireland For Sale . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Kenley Jansen and the?Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a five-year, $80 million deal, a Dodgers source confirmed to ESPNs Jim Bowden on Monday.Jansen had a trio of teams chasing him as finalists for his services: the?Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins?and Dodgers. League sources told Bowden that Jansen had better offers from both the Nationals and Marlins but wanted to stay home and was willing to take less to do it.Jansens deal is the second-largest free-agent reliever contract in history, behind Aroldis Chapmans five-year, $86 million deal with the Yankees from last week.Jansen recorded 47 saves in 71 appearances for the Dodgers in 2016, finishing the year with a 1.83 ERA. He was the recipient of Major League Baseballs 2016 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award.After a June 20 save against the Washington Nationals, Jansen became the all-time saves leader in Dodgers history, passing Eric Gagnes previous record of 161.dddddddddddd Jansen finished the year with 189 saves. His 632 strikeouts as a reliever also passed Jim Brewers club record of 604.Using his overpowering cut fastball, Jansen struck out 104 batters and walked just 11 in 68 2/3 innings this past season, posting a major-league-leading 0.67 WHIP. His 9.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio was best in the National League.Jansen, who was converted from a catcher to a reliever by the Dodgers while still in the minor leagues, was the anchor of the teams bullpen that registered franchise records in both innings pitched (590 2/3) and appearances (607). Both numbers led the major leagues.ESPNs Doug Padilla contributed to this report. ' ' '