Must win for Mumbai

PUNE, JAN 2: It has been a rough road for the one time stronghold of domestic cricket -- Mumbai, in the Ranji trophy season this year. Fo...

PUNE, JAN 2: It has been a rough road for the one time stronghold of domestic cricket 8212; Mumbai, in the Ranji trophy season this year. For once, both the abridged and the longer version of the game are under major threat particularly the latter version after their defeat at the hands of Vadodara 8212; on home turf!

As for the one-day competition, Saurashtra have already qualified as winners leaving Mumbai, who have nursed five titles 8212; Ranji Trophy 1997, Wills Trophy 1997 amp; 1998, Talim Shield awarded to the West Zone champions in Ranji Trophy 8212; 1997 amp; 1998, with just a formality to complete when they take on Maharashtra at the Deccan Gymkhana on Sunday.

For the host8217;s the match is more of an experiment as they are taking chances in testing new blood by including southpaw Anand Dalvi as opener alongside the seasoned skipper Surendra Bhave. As their coach Shyam Oak puts it, quot;We have lost the race in the limited overs game, and the final match is just a trial for the new crop.quot;

On the other hand it isbusiness as usual for the visitors. Their work out this morning with their skipper Vinod Kambli bowling more than the regular bowlers, is a warning that they would prefer to let the ball do more talking than the bat, despite that fact that they have a blend of internationally experienced players in the team.

Maharashtra will miss the presence of Hrishikesh Kanitkar who is summoned by the BCCI to assist the Indians in New Zealand. The focus however would be the four-day tie scheduled from Monday at Nehru Stadium which is a must win8217; situation for the visitors.

THE TEAMs

MAHARASHTRA
ONE DAY: Surendra Bhave Capt., Anand Dalvi, Abhijit Kale, Shantanu Sugwelar, Parag Shahane W/K, Ranjit Pande, Ashutosh Agashe, Sachin Nayar, Mandar Dalvi, Satyen Lande, Mandar Sane, Siddarth Godbole, Jaideep Narse, Indrajie Kamtekar.

FOUR-DAY MATCH: Surendra Bhave Capt., Hemant Kinikar, Abhijit Kale, Shantanu Sugwekar, Siddarth Godbole, Indrajit Kamtekar, Sanjay Khondalkar w-k, Satyen Lande, MandarSane, Iqbal Siddique, Milind Kulkarni, Ashutosh Agashe, Jaideep Narse, Umesh Gotkhindkar, Sachin Nayar. Coach: Shyam Oak

Story continues below this ad

MUMBAI
Vinod Kambli captain, Amit Pagnis, Wasim Jaffer, Manoj Joglekar, Sameer Dighe, wicket-keeper, Jatin Paranjape, Praveen Amre, Sairaj Bahutule, V-Cap, Rajesh Sutar, Paras Mhambrey, Nilesh Kulkarni, Abey Kuruvilla, Santosh Saxena, Faisal Shaikh and Manish Patel. Coach: Ashok Mankad.

Umpires: D Ravi and S Yusuf.