Ranji Trophy: Mumbai favourites against Uttarakhand, MP take on Punjab

Mumbai will strive to be the Mumbai of yore in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Uttarakhand beginning here from Monday By the time hilly state looking to scale new heights with a new generation of players came into existence nearly 22 years ago the heavyweights had won the countrys premier domestic tournament an unprecedented 34 timesFrom 2000 to 2022 Mumbai had placed another seven humongous titlewinning cups in their envious trophy cabinetIn the context of Ranji Trophy using the word strive and Mumbai in the same breadth is ironical for winning this title came naturally to the Mumbai outfits of the halcyon days when they were superior stubborn and maybe a bit snobbish at timesOf course their game was also punctuated by their welldocumented neversaydie attitude and hatetolose approach something the onceuponatime cradle of Indian cricket is trying to rediscoverMumbais entry into the quarterfinals of this edition was far from smooth as they just about made it after Saurashtra failed to win with a bonus point in their last group match against Goa Nevertheless the 41time winners are the firm favourites heading into their latest challengeMumbai will bank on their skipper Prithvi Shaw to lead from the front as the diminutive righthanded batter has the ability to take the inexperienced Uttarakhand attack to the task at the Alur Cricket Stadium IIA marauding Shaw is always a threat to the opposition in any format and Uttarakhand will aim to get him earlyRead Also Canrsquot afford to be complacent against Uttarakhand MulaniMumbai have a set of relatively new batters including Arman Jaffer Bhupen Lalwani and Hardik Tamore who will need to play their roles well However the two players who can make a big impact are young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz KhanWith his younger brother Musheer picked in the squad Sarfaraz will be more than keen to put up a good show and showSarfaraz who did well for Delhi Capitals in the IPL15 has pulled Mumbai out of trouble on many occasions and will again look to anchor the innings Ditto for Jaiswal in whom the team management and coach Amol Mazumdar have reposed faith time and again The two have all the necessary shots in the book and can pummel the opposition attack to submissionExperienced batterkeeper Aditya Tare will need to shoulder more responsibility along with leftarm spinning allrounder Shams MulaniMulani had grabbed 11 wickets in the teams last league game against Goa and will look to spin his web around the opposition batter againHe also forged a matchwinning partnership with Tanush Kotian in the match against Goa With Mulani a certainty in the playing XI offspinner Kotian could be preferred over senior pro Shashank Attarde given his ability with the batMumbai have a decent pace attack led by the seasoned Dhawal Kulkarni who will have company in Tushar DeshpandeThe tussle for the third pacer could be between Mohit Awasthi and Royston Dias While the Muzumdarcoached side will be aiming to move a step closer to its 42nd title Uttarakhand would look to spring a surpriseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever