The 2016-17 edition of the Ranji Trophy witnessed the teams play at neutral venues and has now reached the business end of the tournament. Defending champions Mumbai will take on Tamil Nadu while Gujarat will battle against Jharkhand in the semi-finals. Jharkhand have made it to the last four for the first time and will take on Parthiv Patel-led team as they look to win their maiden title. The semi-finals are set to take place from January 1-5, 2017.
Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu: To be played in Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot
Mumbai will be without the services of Akhil Herwadkar and Dhawal Kulkarni, but the return of Siddhesh Lad has boosted the side. Nicknamed the ‘crisis-man’ of Mumbai, the batsman scored a crucial century upon his return in the quarter-final. The experienced Abhishek Nayar (404 runs and 17 wickets) and Aditya Tare (463 runs) have been vital to the team’s results in the middle-order. The senior all-rounder has been instrumental in the team’s run up to the semi-final including a match-winning performance in the quarter-final against Hyderabad that helped them pull off nerve-wracking win. He was ably complemented by young left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil (24 wickets), who along with off-spinner Akshay Girap have contributed to the team’s fortunes as well.
The newest addition to the Mumbai squad, which has been struggling with injuries to key players is Prithvi Shaw. The young top-order bat has been a prolific run-getter at the junior level across formats and received a call into the senior squad in the knock-out game. Mumbai will hope for Shreyas Iyer (553 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (502 runs) to fire in the all-important game.
Tamil Nadu will be riding on the confidence of having beaten a strong Karnataka team in two days. The captain himself has been scoring consistently, besides Kaushik Gandhi (726 runs) and Dinesh Karthik (664 runs). Baba Indrajith (495 runs) is a reliable top-order batsman as the team stake a claim for the title.
While Mumbai had beaten Tamil Nadu at the pace friendly Lahli in the opening game of the season, the Abhinav Mukund-led team have a more settled line-up as they come into the semi-final.
The Aswin Crist-led attack comprising the likes of K Vignesh, T Natarajan has an impressive pace line-up and at the same time they also have the likes of off-spinner, Malolan Rangarajan and left-arm spinner Rahil Shah who can test the opposition and can play a significant role in Rajkot, which is traditionally known to aid spin.
The battle between Chandrakant Pandit and Hrishikesh Kanitakar’s wards will be the one to watch out for in the forthcoming round.
Gujarat vs Jharkhand: To be played in the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur
Nagpur will witness a keenly fought contest as both Gujarat and Jharkhand, who are yet to win the coveted trophy, strive to keep their campaign alive in the ongoing edition of the premier multi-day tournament.
The Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat team have the season’s highest run-getter, Priyank Panchal in the side while Jharkhand has the season’s highest wicket-taker, Shahbaz Nadeem in their ranks. It will be a contest to watch out for as Gujarat’s solid batting line-up with the skipper and Samit Gohil also in form, will be tested by the spinner who will finish at the top of the wicket-taker’s list for a second successive season.
Jharkhand, who lost to Mumbai in the quarter-finals in the 2015-16 season after qualifying from Group C, performed consistently in the ongoing season to finish at the top of Group B table and reach the semi-finals. They beat Haryana under the leadership of Surabh Tiwary. Nadeem was the key performer for the side in the knockout game and the team will be relying on his experience as they look to take the step forward. The batting comprising Ishank Jaggi (760 runs) and Ishan Kishan (719 runs) is also complemented by Kaushal Singh and Virat Singh. Virat’s century in the quarter-final was vital to the team’s victory.
Gujarat will look to carry their dominating performance from the quarter-final into the next game. Gohil’s record-breaking triple-ton and Jasprit Bumrah’s five-for were the highlights of the game against Haryana. The pacer along with Rush Kalaria and Hardik Patel form a potent attack for the team.
