For Tamil Nadu, the knock-out stage in the Ranji Trophy has been less hospitable in the recent past. It’s a place it covets, yet has not been able to reach in the last two years. For a heavyweight these are nothing but meagre returns.
When it recorded an innings victory over Uttar Pradesh in its last Group ‘A’ game, it was a step to reverse the above record. When it takes on Mumbai, a fellow heavyweight, on Wednesday in its last home match, it presents an opportunity to pull closer to the Promised Land.
To help in this endeavour, the second-placed team (16 points in six games) will welcome opening bat Murali Vijay who was one of India’s top performers in the recently-concluded Test series in Australia.
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“It’s a great addition,” said Abhinav Mukund, who will lead the side for the second straight match in R. Prasanna’s absence. “He is probably the best opener in the country. I am very happy to have him in the team.”
Abhinav will also have left-armer Aushik Srinivas back and with the pitch again expected to be spinner-friendly he will join Malolan Rangarajan and Rahil Shah in a three-man spin attack.
On its part, Mumbai, which is on 11 points from five games, will also be looking for maximum points. But like the home side it has also blown hot and cold.
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After a nervy start which included a defeat to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), it managed to regroup a bit, before letting Madhya Pradesh chase down 404 and gain the first innings lead in its last encounter.
An outright win, with a much improved bowling performance, is what is needed to bolster its chances of reaching the next round.
“It’s a very important game,” said skipper Suryakumar Yadav. “We will be playing the top three teams in the table starting now. We know it will only get tougher. So we can’t take any game lightly.”
Veteran Wasim Jaffer, who has been out of action since the season opener against J&K, will make a return in place of Abhishek Nayar.
The teams (from):
Tamil Nadu: Abhinav Mukund (capt.), M. Vijay, U. Sushil, B. Aparajith, Dinesh Karthik, B. Indrajith, S. Suresh Kumar, R. Sathish, Vijay Shankar, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil S. Shah, R. Aushik Srinivas, K. Bharath Shankar, Ashwin Crist, M. Mohammed.
Mumbai: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Siddesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Akhil Herwadkar, Badre Alam, Shreyas Iyer, Sufiyan Shaikh, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Iqbal Abdulla, Tushar Sedpande, Shrideep Mangela, Akshay Girap, Vishal Dabholkar.