Title contenders and defending champions Mumbai will have both form and pedigree on their side when they take on a spirited Haryana outfit that is seeking to prove a point in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal starting in Kolkata from Saturday. The shifting of the match to the iconic Eden Gardens from Lahli, Haryana’s home venue, has affected the travel plans of both the teams, especially the hosts since the BCCI has not officially provided them any reason for the switch.
While Haryana will not enjoy the advantage of playing in the familiar environs of the Bansi Lal Stadium, Mumbai are too professional a side to take any team lightly, more so in a knockout game of the country’s premier domestic tournament which they have won an unprecedented 42 times.
As they brace up to take on a formidable opponent, Haryana would not like to read much into the shifting of their home match to a neutral venue, and would rather focus on the job at hand.
With India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and big-hitting all-rounder Shivam Dube joining an already strong and settled Mumbai team, Haryana know they will have their task cut out over what promises to be four days of intense battle.
Mumbai will not be short on confidence having registered their biggest win — by an innings and 456 runs — against Meghalaya in their last group match to qualify for the knockouts.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane has too many resources at his disposal and zeroing in on the playing XI is not going to be an easy task for the seasoned leader.
Mumbai had three centurions in Siddhesh Lad, Akash Anand and Shams Mulani with Rahane himself making 96 in their previous game and it will be interesting to see who are the two players making way for Suryakumar and Dube in the XI. Even pacer Shardul Thakur slammed a 42-ball 84 at a strike rate of 200.
While Shardul, along with left-arm spinner Mulani and in-form off-spinner Tanush Kotian, are certain to shoulder the bulk of the bowling load, the Mumbai think tank could be forced to drop two among openers Ayush Mhatre, Amogh Bhatkal and Suryansh Shedge from their much-vaunted batting line-up.
Both Suryakumar and Dube, who recently featured in India’s five-match T20I series against England, have played one match each in Mumbai’s title defence this season.
Suryakumar led India to a 4-1 series victory over England, but his own form left a lot to be desired as the batter was found wanting against the pace and bounce of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, managing just 28 runs across five innings.
Having got out multiple times while trying to play the flick shot, Suryakumar would want to use this match to address his batting woes.
In skipper Ankit Kumar, Nishant Sindhu, Himanshu Rana and Yuvraj Singh, Haryana have the batting to put up a big total and then look up to the likes of Anshul Kamboj, Anuj Thakral and Jayant Yadav for breakthroughs with the ball.
Vidarbha optimistic against Tamil Nadu
Having entered the quarterfinals with 40 points and six outright wins in seven games — the most by any team in the group stage this season — Vidarbha will fancy their chances against an equally determined Tamil Nadu in their match that will take place at Civil Lines Stadium in Nagpur.
Tamil Nadu finished on top of the table in Group D with three wins and three draws in seven matches.
Vidarbha, on the other hand, toped Group B.
As far as Vidarbha batting is concerned, the onus will be on in-form Karun Nair to lead the way, while Tamil Nadu have seasoned campaigners such as N Jagadeesan, Baba Indrajith and Vijay Shankar to do the job for them with the willow.
J&K face Kerala in Pune
Like Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, too, won’t enjoy home advantage after their quarter-final against Kerala was shifted from Jammu to the MCA Stadium in Pune.
In this case though, the switch came about after the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) expressed its concerns to the BCCI about the ground conditions following a harsh winter.
Excellent comeback inspires Saurashtra
Struggling at the bottom of the table halfway into the Ranji season with four points in four games, Saurashtra staged a remarkable comeback with three successive bonus-point wins to enter the knockouts and set up a quarterfinal meeting at home (Rajkot) with Gujarat.
Coming off an incredible run, the Jaydev Unadkat-led Saurasthra have now given themselves a real chance of winning their third Ranji title in five years.
Gujarat (32), who have the third highest points in the group stage, are certainly no pushovers but Saurashtra are banking on their collective might to continue their progress.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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