Mumbai: A depleted Mumbai would look to seal a place in the quarterfinals with an outright victory when they take on laggards Jharkhand in their four-day Group A Ranji Trophy league clash starting at the Wankhede Stadium here tomorrow.
Even without the services of key batsmen Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, as well as bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan and the injured Dhawal Kulkarni along with the retired Sachin Tendulkar, the defending champions and table toppers are favourites against bottom-of-the-table Jharkhand.
Mumbai, who have recorded three outright wins in four games as well as a point split (1-1) against Delhi to log 19 from four games, are sitting pretty and it would need a herculean effort from the struggling Jharkhand players to pull off an upset, even over the first innings.
The thumping 338-run victory over minnows Vidarbha completed well inside the distance last week, was yet another shot-in-the arm for Mumbai in their race towards their 41st title triumph.
To fill the gaps left by the unavailability of some key bowlers, Mumbai have roped in 42-year-old leg-spinner Pravin Tambe for his maiden first-class game along with experienced medium pacer Kshemal Waingankar.
Mumbai would again rely on their superior batting to subdue the challenge from their eastern rivals with seasoned opener Wasim Jaffer (349 runs) and wicketkeeper Aditya Tare (406 runs) looking in very good touch.
The holders must be a bit concerned over the poor form of opener Kaustubh Pawar, who is struggling to get runs, and Suryakumar Yadav, who showed glimpses of regaining his touch in the second innings with an unbeaten 49 after throwing his wicket away in the first against Vidarbha.
Left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar is the top wicket-taker with 20 victims under his belt, but Mumbai would sorely miss the crafty bowling of captain Zaheer (16) and the extra pace of Kulkarni, who played in the season opener against Haryana before getting injured.Shardul Thakur got among the wickets by grabbing seven with his medium pace bowling against Vidarbha, but overall the host team's bowling looks below par.
Jharkhand, on the other hand, appear to be a better bowling side with Varun Aaron, back in action after a long injury-forced lay-off, leading the attack with 11 wickets.
They have a good left arm spinner in Captain Shahbaz Nadeem (9 wickets), same as medium pacer Shiv Shankar Rao.
But another medium pacer Rahul Sharma has not delivered and was replaced by Ajay Yadav who took 5-61 against Orissa. Yadav did not figure in their previous drawn away game against Gujarat.
In batting, though Saurabh Tiwary has topped with 485 runs, he has not converted even one of his six fifties into a ton this season. Another senior batsman Ishank Jaggi has also under-performed.
Opener Rameez Nemat has batted steadily to amass 203 runs but there is hardly any depth or quality in the visitors' batting and the extra bounce that would be available to the bowlers on the Wankhede track could trouble the Jharkhand batsmen to an appreciable extent.
Shahbaz confident Jharkhand can give Mumbai good fight
Shahbaz confident Jharkhand can give Mumbai good fight
Mumbai: His team might be languishing at the bottom of the points table, but Jharkhand captain Shahbaz Nadeem is highly hopeful of his plyers giving a good fight to hosts and defending champions Mumbai in their Group A Ranji Trophy match commencing here tomorrow.
"We are playing them for the first time in Ranji Trophy. We are all excited to play the Mumbai team as they were the champions last year and have been for so many times. We came here to give them a good fight and hopefully we will," he told reporters here ahead of the encounter.
The left-arm spinner admitted that they are virtually out of the competition, after bagging only three points from five games and said every match is important for them.
"Realistically, you can say we are out of this (the tournament). I think for us, every match is big now because we have not been playing well for the last five matches. Every match is crucial for us," he said.
The 24-year-old felt the team's batsmen have let the team down in the competition.
"I think we are also a very good side. On paper if you see we are a good side but we are not delivering it. Our batting is not doing much justice for our bowlers. If we can score 350 or 400, our bowling is strong enough to defend that," he said.
Jharkhand and Mumbai faced each other in a one-day game three years back, where Nadeem was man of the match.
"We played against them three years back. We won that match. One-day format is different from this. It is not that we cannot win against them in this format because we have some quality players in our team. Varun (Aaron), Saurabh (Tiwary), (Ishank) Jaggi are there.
"From our team five players were playing Duleep Trophy last season. It is just that we are not delivering it. If the batting and bowling click together, it will be a good fight," he said.
Nadeem assessed the Wankhede Stadium track as flat.
"It looks like a pretty flat wicket. Doesn't have so much grass on it. I think it is a batting wicket," he said.Asked about pacer Aaron's performance, he said, "he is bowling really well. He has come after two years, suffering from his fitness problems and now he has overcome that. He is bowling quick."
His counterpart Abhishek Nayar, who is leading a relatively young side, said the team will try to do its best in the absence of the seniors.
"Everyone is excited. From the last game only Zak (Zaheer Khan) is not there. All the other guys have stepped up and done well. Everyone is keen and looking to give their best.
"No one is really worried about who is there and who is not. We have all accepted it over a period of time. The best capable 11 will try and put their best foot forward tomorrow," he said.
Retired batting legend Sachin Tendulkar had recently said it would be a challenging time for the team without the seniors.
"It is challenging with or without the seniors. Ranji Trophy is challenging. Nothing changes that. We have two or three new faces, but everyone else has been part of the team," the all-rounder responded.
Asked if the defending champions would go with two spinners in the game, he said, "doesn't look like it. The pitch is still a little wet. So we will take a decision tomorrow morning. It rained yesterday, so it is difficult to judge what the pitch will do.
He also praised left-arm new ball bowler Akbar Khan and said he would have learnt a lot from Zaheer Khan.
"I think he bowled well for a first game, obviously Zak being there was helpful. Being a left-arm seamer himself, I think it was good that he got one game alongside Zak. It helps him and he has gone back and taken 5 wickets in Kanga League.
Asked about the Jharkhand bowling attack, Nayar said, "Most of the teams we have played this year have had decent fast bowlers. A lot of the pitches we have played on have been good seaming condition or good turning conditions not like the regular flat track we played on last year.
"That is also a good challenge because it means we can play against good fast bowling and get better as cricketers."
Delhi aim another outright win vs Odisha as Narwal comes back
Delhi aim another outright win vs Odisha as Narwal comes back
Sambhalpur: Having got some confidence back after an outright win against Haryana, a confident Delhi will be aiming for another six points when they take on Odisha in their fifth round Ranji Trophy group A encounter here tomorrow with spotlight once again on an out-of-form Virender Sehwag.
Delhi are currently placed fifth having got nine points from four games while Odisha are a notch below at sixth with eight points from an equal number of outings.
Full points from the game is a necessity for both the teams in order to stay on course for a quarter-final berth but Delhi will also be fighting some off-field battles which makes it even more challenging.
As reports emerged that skipper and India discard Gautam Gambhir was not happy with the squad selection, it will be interesting to see the kind of team combination employed by Delhi.
One of the major changes in the squad will be inclusion of wicketkeeper Rahul Yadav, who played his only first-class match four years ago against Bengal as a specialist opener.
Yadav has replaced long-time keeper Puneet Bisht, who has been dropped after having taken five catches in an innings in the last game against Haryana. Bisht's form with the bat has been a bit patchy which led to his exclusion.
According to chief coach Sanjeev Sharma, the pitch looks to be a firm one with even bounce.
"Sumit Narwal will be coming back from injury and fits into the XI in place of Ishant Sharma (on national duty). Ashish Nehra has got much needed rest and is fit and raring to go. Varun Sood will be our only spinner," Sharma told PTI today.
Nehra is expected to replace Pawan Suyal, who didn't have an extraordinary match against Haryana on a pacer-friendly Roshanara ground.
For Odisha, skipper Biplab Samantray and seamer Basant Mohanty's performance will be key to the team's show.
The performance of the Odisha batsmen wasn't upto the mark in the last game against Karnataka which they lost by four wickets.
Bengal aim for six vs Railways on a pacy JMI Stadium track
Bengal aim for six vs Railways on a pacy JMI Stadium track
New Delhi: A depleted Bengal side will be eager to change its dismal away track record against table toppers Railways when the two teams square off in a group B Ranji Trophy encounter on a seamer-friendly track at the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University Sports Complex, here tomorrow.
Railways, who will be playing their fifth game, are at the top of the table on 17 points while Bengal have slowly crawled to 11 from five games with a string of first-innings leads.
Murali Kartik's side will be favourites going into the match as has been the case for Railway vs Bengal duels in Delhi which the institutional side have always overpowered the heavyweights from the East.
For Bengal, the absence of Wriddhiman Saha, who is in South Africa for the Test series, will be felt badly along with likes of injured Manoj Tiwary and Mohammed Shami (on national duty).
The pitch at JMI has a fair cushion of grass around the good length area on one side of the 22-yard-strip although it certainly isn't a 'green-top'.
Veteran curator Noor Mohammed, who also happens to be the Director of Sports (JMI University), said that the batsmen would also enjoy batting on this track.
"We have shaved off a lot of grass but we have kept enough to have good carry and movement throughout the four days. I can assure that first two days will be good for batting and spinners will get help from third day onwards," Noor Mohammed said on the eve of the match.
Bengal team will have Gitimoy Basu donning the big gloves while all-rounder Arnab Nandy is expected to come in place of Sandipan Das, who looked out of sorts on a flat track against a below par Services attack.
Railways are expected to go with three-pronged pace attack in Anureet Singh (18 wickets), Ranjit Kumar Mali (17 wickets) and Krishna Kant Upadhyay (13 wickets) who have taken 48 wickets amongst themselves. Such has been their domination that skipper Kartik has only bowled 20 overs in three matches so far taking one wicket.While the pitch warrants a third specialist seamer which could be Sourav Sarkar or Manojit Ghosh, Bengal will have their skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla doing the job of specialist third seamer. Pace spearhead Ashoke Dinda didn't bowl at the nets due to acute toothache.
While coach Ashok Malhotra desperately wants six points from this match, which he thinks gives Bengal the best opportunity to go for maximum, skipper Shukla doesn't want to think too far ahead.
"I have maintained that my job is to play four days of good cricket and not think about the outcome. I will be doing just that. Our team has been gelling well and that's the reason that we have been able to put up decent show without the likes of Manoj, Shami and now Wriddhiman, who have been our key players," Shukla said after training session.
Asked about opposition batsman Arindam Ghosh, who with 310 runs is the second highest scorer for Railways, Shukla said: "I am very happy for Ari (nickname) and would want him to shine for Railways just like Kartik, JP (Yadav) or Sanjay (Sanjay Bangar) has done over the years. He is a good batsman but somehow didn't click when he played for Bengal," Shukla said.
Arindam used to be a fringe player for Bengal till he shifted to Railways this season.
Ghosh, who apart from his four first-class matches this season for Railways, has always played for Bengal and wants to treat this as just another match.
"Initially, it felt little awkward as I didn't know most of the boys. Now, I have adjusted to the situation and the double hundred at Moti Bagh has helped a lot. Kartik bhai (captain) has been very encouraging. For me, there's nothing to prove as this is just another match. We need to keep the momentum going," the 27-year-old said.
Tamil Nadu aims outright win against Baroda
Tamil Nadu aims outright win against Baroda
Chennai: Tamil Nadu would be feeling the pressure to register an outright win against Baroda when the two sides meet in a Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match starting here tomorrow.
With only eight points from four games, the 2011-12 runners-up sit at No.5 position in Group B while their opponents, Baroda, are placed at seventh position.
Tamil Nadu are playing their second home game of the season and it will be up to their bowlers to take the 20 wickets needed for a victory after drawing their last four games, including the previous tie against Saurashtra where they failed to defend their first innings total of 565 for eight.
This season has been a testing one for the hosts in the absence of their batting bulwarks, who are currently with the Indian team. The weak bowling department has not helped their cause either.
They took first-innings points against Services and Madhya Pradesh, the latter being asked to follow-on.
In their third match against Uttar Pradesh in Meerut, they squandered a position of strength after allowing the hosts to take a commanding first-innings lead.
Uttar Pradesh were struggling at 205 for 6 in reply to Tamil Nadu's first innings score of 297 all out. The UP lower order, led by leg spinner Piyush Chawla, showed enough stomach for a fight to take them to 500 for nine decalred.
Tamil Nadu's bowling will be under scrutiny after having bowled the opposition out only twice this season.
Skipper Lakshmipathy Balaji has carried the attack on his shoulders for most part of the previous Ranji seasons but he hasn't always got the required support from other bowlers.
In this season, Tamil Nadu have taken ten wickets on only two occasions and Yo Mahesh was the only bowler to take a five-wicket haul.
On the other hand, Yusuf Pathan-led Baroda are coming into the match on the back of their impressive 246-run victory against Madhya Pradesh.
After losing their matches against Railways and Uttar Pradesh, Baroda bolwers finally came good against MP and bowled them out twice for a paltry 60 and 90 in both the innings respectively.
The win propelled Baroda to seventh position ahead of Services and Rajasthan.
Baroda would be banking on the power-hitting of the senior Pathan, who hit an unbeaten 104 in the second innings against MP.
He also shown with the ball, finishing with a match figure of seven for 44.
The pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium has gotten slower since it was relaid and has often been blamed as one of the reasons for not producing enough results.
Squads:
Tamil Nadu: L. Balaji (c), S. Badrinath (v-c), Abhinav Mukund, B. Aparajith, R. Prasanna, Dinesh Karthik, K.B. Arun Karthik, B. Indrajith, Vijay Shankar, Malolan Rangarajan, Aushik Srinivas, A. Aswin Crist, J. Kaushik, Rahil S. Shah and M. Mohammed.
Baroda: Yusuf Pathan (c), Ambati Rayudu, Utkarsh Patel, Bhargav Bhatt, Abhimanyu Chauhan, Kedar Devdhar, Gagandeep Singh, Ketan Panchal, Hardik Pandya, Ketul Patel, Babashafi Pathan, Pinal Shah, Rakesh Solanki, Murtuja Vahora, Aditya Waghmode and Saurabh Wakaskar.
