Surya,Salvi to play big roles

Mumbai's Ranji ODI side that reached the finals of the Vijay Hazare trophy last year were beaten in the finals by Bengal.

Mumbai’s Ranji ODI side that reached the finals of the Vijay Hazare trophy last year were beaten in the finals by Bengal. However,the tournament has been a happy hunting ground for Mumbai as they have reached the knockout stages of the competition,four times in the last five years. Agarkar says that though the team has managed to qualify out of the west zone group,the challenge is getting tougher each year. This group has some really good sides. Also,all these sides keep on consistently improving and qualification has become quite difficult every year. However,we are backing ourselves and we expect to make it out of the group, he said.

Mumbai will be without the services of Ajinkya Rahane,Rohit Sharma,Abhishek Nayar,Dhawal Kulkarni and Zaheer Khan. The latter two will be missing out due to injury while Rahane is in the Test squad while Sharma and Nayar have been selected in the India A team to face Australia in a warm-up match. Mumbai will be glad to have the services of Suryakumar Yadav and also the experience of Avishkar Salvi at their disposal.

Skipper Agarkar said that he expects the wicket at Gahunje to be a good batting track. That wicket has been good for batsmen and for one-days and twenty20s,surfaces tend to be good. he said. Baroda coach Sanath Kumar seemed to agree with Agarkar saying that the track looked like a perfect batting track to him.

Baroda have a new-look side with a number of youngsters. The team will be led by Yusuf Pathan who is looking to make a come-back into the national side. Pathan’s brother Irfan is not expected to play as he is still recuperating after sustaining an injury during the Ranji trophy season. Baroda will be bolstered by the presence of Ambati Rayudu who will join the team on Thursday morning and will be in the playing XI. Medium-pacer Munaf Patel will also play for Baroda after missing the Ranji season.

Irfan Pathan who missed out on a large chunk of Baroda’s Ranji Trophy campaign is expected to play the final two games for his side as he contines his recuperation from a finger injury.

The Mumbai team walked in for a practice session at Pune in the afternoon heat of 2 pm. However,any discomfort that the players might have felt owing to the heat was soon dispelled as the team took part in an intensive training session with some hard running thrown in. Interestingly,Mumbai play their opening fixture of the West Zone qualification group for the Vijay Hazare limited overs trophy against Baroda on Thursday at the Maharashtra cricket Association Stadium at Gahunje. The team however opted to practice at the Poona Club ground.

Mumbai captain,Ajit Agarkar,said that getting a practice session under the belt was more important than the venue. “The team has hardly gotten any time to practice after the Irani Trophy. This is the first and last practice session before our opening game and its important for the boys to fine-tune their skills,” he said.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram