The importance of being Tendulkar
Even before the first ball is bowled in the 75th Ranji Trophy final, starting tomorrow at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here, Mumbai seem the overwhelming favourites against Uttar Pradesh. The presence of Sachin Tendulkar (in photo), who scored a quickfire century against Saurashtra in the semi-final, gives Mumbai the edge. And if Mumbai pull it off, it will be their 38th Ranji title. Yet to be beaten by any side in this season, Mumbai's journey to the final has been pretty smooth - as usual - even though they were made to follow on by Saurashtra in the teams' group stage match. They turned the tables on Saurashtra in the semi-final all right, piling up a mammoth 637 in the first innings which aided them in gaining a vital first innings lead. Mumbai owe a lot to their openers Wasim Jaffer and Ajinka Rahane, both of whom have scored more than 1000 Ranji Trophy runs in the current season. By not going to Pakistan, India have done their domestic cricket an unusual favour: big-timers are playing in the Ranji Trophy. The wicket here encourages tall scores. This fairly new stadium has been the venue for two One Day International venues ~ once in 2005 between India and South Africa and other in 2007 between India and Australia. Though the hosts lost both the matches, spectators got the opportunity to see some lusty hitting. But how the pitch behaves in a five-day match, is yet tobe seen. However, the fact that Tendulkar has a meagre average of 22.5 in the ground, may give some hope to the Uttar Pradesh bowlers.
Though, the pitch looked a sporting one with a tinge of green on it, it wouldn't be surprising if, like often in the sub-continent, the grass gives way to a flat batting deck. But the present look is bound to inspire the pacers of both the sides. "It seems the pitch will assist the pacers before lunch on the first day. After that it is likely to ease out," Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammed Kaif predicted.
Mumbai have always been a consistent performer in Ranji trophy. But of late, Uttar Pradesh have improved in leaps and bounds over the last ten years they have appeared in the finals three times and have won once in 2005-06 beating Bengal. Mumbai though is way ahead lifting the trophy five times since 1996-97 season.
Besides Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai contains several players who can turn the course of a match single handedly. Former skipper Amol Majumder may not have played a single international match, but is one of the most prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit. The fact that he stands 30 runs away from Amarjeet Kaypee's record of highest run scorer in Ranji Trophy underlines the statement. They also possess a formidable bowling attack. Zaheer Khan ~ the tenth best ODI bowler according to ICC rankings ~ will lead the attack along with Ajit Agarkar. Young pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, with 37 scalps this season, will complete the trio of pacers. Ramesh Power is still a menacing off-spinner on his own day. But despite Mumbai's credentials, one can't undermine Utter Pradesh. With a balanced bowling attack comprising Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh and the gifted leg spinner Piyush Chawla. RP Singh, who has just recovered from an injury, looked fully fit in the nets though a final call will be taken tomorrow morning. Chawla, who has lost his national team place to Delhi spinner Amit Mishra, will certainly be expected perform well. Opener Tanmoy Srivastava ~ a century-maker in the last year's final ~ will certainly look forward to repeat the feat. The other opener Shivakant Shukla is also in tremendous form after scoring a brilliant 178 in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu and taking his team to the final. But the team's star batsman is definitely the hard-hitting Suresh Raina. With few of the national team spots yet to be filled, his outing in this longer version match will be closely scrutinized by the selectors. Skipper Mohammed Kaif may have left his heydays behind, but can be a dangerous customer in the domestic matches.
The match will be shown live on Neo cricket tomorrow from 8.30 AM.
Squads~ Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Amol Muzumdar, Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Vinayak Samant , Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan,Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Usman Malvi and Ankit Chavan
Uttar Pradesh: Mohammad Kaif (captain), Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava, Suresh Raina, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Sudeep Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amir Khan, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Gupta, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Singh, Ravikant Shukla, Ashish Yadav, Prashant Gupta, Tahir Abbas, Anshul Kapoor.
Though, the pitch looked a sporting one with a tinge of green on it, it wouldn't be surprising if, like often in the sub-continent, the grass gives way to a flat batting deck. But the present look is bound to inspire the pacers of both the sides. "It seems the pitch will assist the pacers before lunch on the first day. After that it is likely to ease out," Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammed Kaif predicted.
Mumbai have always been a consistent performer in Ranji trophy. But of late, Uttar Pradesh have improved in leaps and bounds over the last ten years they have appeared in the finals three times and have won once in 2005-06 beating Bengal. Mumbai though is way ahead lifting the trophy five times since 1996-97 season.
Besides Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai contains several players who can turn the course of a match single handedly. Former skipper Amol Majumder may not have played a single international match, but is one of the most prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit. The fact that he stands 30 runs away from Amarjeet Kaypee's record of highest run scorer in Ranji Trophy underlines the statement. They also possess a formidable bowling attack. Zaheer Khan ~ the tenth best ODI bowler according to ICC rankings ~ will lead the attack along with Ajit Agarkar. Young pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, with 37 scalps this season, will complete the trio of pacers. Ramesh Power is still a menacing off-spinner on his own day. But despite Mumbai's credentials, one can't undermine Utter Pradesh. With a balanced bowling attack comprising Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh and the gifted leg spinner Piyush Chawla. RP Singh, who has just recovered from an injury, looked fully fit in the nets though a final call will be taken tomorrow morning. Chawla, who has lost his national team place to Delhi spinner Amit Mishra, will certainly be expected perform well. Opener Tanmoy Srivastava ~ a century-maker in the last year's final ~ will certainly look forward to repeat the feat. The other opener Shivakant Shukla is also in tremendous form after scoring a brilliant 178 in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu and taking his team to the final. But the team's star batsman is definitely the hard-hitting Suresh Raina. With few of the national team spots yet to be filled, his outing in this longer version match will be closely scrutinized by the selectors. Skipper Mohammed Kaif may have left his heydays behind, but can be a dangerous customer in the domestic matches.
The match will be shown live on Neo cricket tomorrow from 8.30 AM.
Squads~ Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Amol Muzumdar, Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Vinayak Samant , Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan,Dhawal Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Usman Malvi and Ankit Chavan
Uttar Pradesh: Mohammad Kaif (captain), Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava, Suresh Raina, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Sudeep Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amir Khan, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Gupta, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Singh, Ravikant Shukla, Ashish Yadav, Prashant Gupta, Tahir Abbas, Anshul Kapoor.
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