Mumbai’s already formidable batting order received a major boost with the addition of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane ahead of their semi-final clash against Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
Adding to the international presence, in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma, Rahane and Shaw, Mumbai also have Shreyas Iyer (311 runs) and Suryakumar Yadav (237 runs), two of their highest run-getters in the national ODI Championship, which makes them already runaway favourites against Hyderabad.
The southern team will depend a lot on Ambati Rayudu and Mohammad Siraj to deliver alongside their two in-form batsmen BP Sandeep (342 runs) and Tanmay Agarwal (292 runs). Mehdi Hasan with 13 wickets from eight games has been Hyderabad’s most successful bowler, while Siraj has six wickets from eight games.
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Mumbai though have a selection dilemma to make and most likely left-hander Akhil Herwadkar will make a place for Shaw in the opening slot, while Siddhesh Lad will have to be benched for Rahane. Both Shaw and Rahane too have been among the runs and with 287 and 230 runs respectively are the second and fourth highest-run scorer for Mumbai in the championship.
Both Rahane and Shaw were part of India’s 2-0 Test series victory against the West Indies and played instrumental roles with the bat. Shaw, who made his debut in the opening Test scored a hundred in his debut innings and followed it up with another half-century in the Test match.
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