Ranji Trophy : Mumbai matinee on cards

Mumbai, March 1

Out-of-favour India batter Shreyas Iyer will be motivated to prove a point and serve a timely reminder of his skillset as he gets back to domestic action when the record 41-time champions Mumbai take on Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semifinals here tomorrow.

Dropped from the Indian Test side and discarded from BCCI’s list of contracted players after he did not make himself available for the quarterfinal due to groin and back trouble, Iyer has recovered completely to join Mumbai for the key clash.

Iyer would be key in Mumbai’s scheme of things, specially against Tamil Nadu’s quality spin bowling, which has been one of their key weapons this season.

Skipper R Sai Kishore (47 wickets) and fellow left-arm spinner S Ajith Ram (41) are perched atop the list of highest wicket-takers, against whom Iyer and Co. will have a great opportunity to make a strong statement.

The semifinal promises to be an enthralling battle between Tamil Nadu’s persistent and disciplined bowlers and their batters who have piled up big runs this season versus Mumbai’s all-round strength.

Mumbai have made it to the semifinals riding on timely performances from different players barring skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who has just one fifty to show from six matches.

None of the Mumbai bowlers has made it to the top-10 in the list of wicket-takers — Mohit Avasthi (32) is at 13th — yet they find themselves in the last-four stage with their bowlers sharing the workload quite well.

Both Mumbai and Tamil Nadu are coming off impressive wins at the quarterfinal stage. Young Musheer Khan’s unbeaten 203 allowed Mumbai a slender lead which swelled to an insurmountable 605, courtesy a historic show from tailenders Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande against Baroda.

Tamil Nadu stopped defending champions Saurashtra. A standout feature in their impressive run this year has been the fact that they have bowled out each of their opponents twice in all Ranji matches irrespective of the outcome. — PTI

MP look to become centre of attraction

Nagpur: A resolute Madhya Pradesh are faced with the daunting task of taming Vidarbha at their home ground, which the hosts have turned into an impregnable citadel this season, when the familiar foes clash in their Ranji Trophy semifinal starting tomorrow. Two-time champions Vidarbha have played four matches at the VCA Stadium this season, and they have won three with the solitary defeat coming against Saurashtra. Those victories have come with convincing margins too — seven wickets against Services, 115 runs against Haryana and 127 runs against Karnataka in the quarterfinals. Madhya Pradesh, the 2022 champions, have walked through rings of fire to enter the last-four stage. They managed just three outright wins in eight league matches while fiercely battling in other games to gain first innings leads.