A young but mighty Mumbai have history and form firmly on their side when they chase their 41st Ranji Trophy title by locking horns with Saurashtra, who are taking a rare shot at domestic cricket's biggest prize, in the summit showdown beginning in Pune from Wednesday. While Mumbai will be appearing in their 45th final of the top domestic tournament, it is only the second time that Saurashtra are in the title clash. Incidentally, it was Mumbai who put paid to Saurashtra's hopes of a maiden triumph by wrapping the final in three days in 2012-13. That was the only time Saurashtra came close to the title. Mumbai won that match by an innings and 125 runs for their 40th trophy. Three seasons later, the scene remains more or less the same and it will take a huge effort from Saurashtra to upset a side which has almost won more titles than the rest of India combined. For the record, since 1990-91, Mumbai haven't lost any of the 10 finals they have played. Mumbai have at least five of those who played in the earlier final in the squad -- Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur and Vishal Dabholkar.
Daredevils can be the banana peel and Mumbai Indians will be wary after Chennai Super Kings slipped in their penultimate game. The last time the two teams faced off, the Daredevils won by seven wickets in a last-over thriller.
A summary of Friday's action in Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Fast running out of time, a struggling Rajasthan Royals will hope to complete the double against Mumbai Indians in a return-leg IPL fixture and revive their campaign in Jaipur Saturday.
The celebrated duo of head coach Ricky Ponting and mentor Sourav Ganguly has managed to instill belief in the team members and that is visible on the field. The team now seems to believe that it can win the title after a long spell as the perennial underachiever of the competition.
Cheteshwar Pujara missed out on a second successive double hundred but his 182 went a long way in Saurashtra piling up a mammoth 570 in their first innings against Gujarat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy.
Besides Kohli, who led India to a historic Test series triumph in Sri Lanka recently, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra were also named among the probables.
KXIP are riding a roller-coaster ride, having to endure a controversy involving their captain Ravichandran Ashwin who 'Mankaded' Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler in their first match, an act which was legal but criticised by some as against the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
Railways caused the biggest upset in this Ranji Trophy season so far, after they defeated domestic giants Mumbai by 10 wickets within three days in their Elite Group B match, in Mumbai, on Friday. Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan (5-60) took five wickets, as Mumbai were bundled out for 198 in their second essay at the Wankhede Stadium, after India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane failed miserably in the second innings as well.
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw faltered yet again as Karnataka pacers wreaked a havoc and bundled out Mumbai for a paltry 194 on the opening day of their Elite Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai. Services bowled out Maharashtra for 44 with medium pacer P S Poonia picking up 5/11 in their Ranji Trophy match in New Delhi
Their morale on the upswing after back-to-back victories, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will aim to continue the winning run when they take on the inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad in their fifth IPL cricket match in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight for survival when they lock horns in the Indian Premier League in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara continued his good form with the bat as he and Robin Uthappa helped Saurashtra crush Punjab by eight wickets.
After the gruelling league phase of the ongoing IPL, the stage is set for the play-offs with CSK and MI clashing against each other for a place in May 12 final.
The domestic season-ending five-day Irani Cup game between newly crowned Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India, commencing in Mumbai from Sunday, will provide fringe players a good opportunity to stake claims for the national team. The first class match is the last occasion for hopefuls from both ranks to impress the five-member national selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil before attention shifts totally to the T20 format, commencing with the ICC World T20 Championships. With the country expected to play over 15 Test matches post Indian Premier League till the end of next season, this match is the ideal platform for these players to strengthen their claims for the long Test haul. Mumbai, who clinched the Ranji crown for the 41st time last week by defeating Saurashtra by an innings, have a settled combination led by wicket keeper batsman Aditya Tare. They appear to be better prepared than the motley bunch of Rest of India, being led by Madhya Pradesh stumper Naman Ojha. However, they would take the Rest of India lightly at their own peril as the latter have a good bowling attack at their command even without originally named Barinder Sran and Nathu Singh who have been injured and replaced by Ankit Rajpoot and Anureet Singh, according to their coach Ashish Kapoor.
A summary of the opening day's play in the Elite Group Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Aditya Tare played a captain's knock while Abhishek Nayar and Shardul Thakur complemented their fine bowling effort with half-centuries to help Mumbai take the all-important first innings lead over Tamil Nadu in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Rajkot. Tare made a fine 83 off 181 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries to hold together Mumbai's first innings. He was ably supported by Nayar (58) and Thakur (52) as Mumbai made 406 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 305 before being bowled out at stumps on the third day of the five-day marque encounter.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday.
Veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer will lead Mumbai in their four-day Ranji Trophy Group A match against Orissa, at the Wankhede stadium, from December 14, as Abhishek Nayar is injured.
Nitish said the Opposition tried to project the Gaya road rage case as the return of 'jungle raj' in Bihar.
Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma on Friday expressed his satisfaction at the Supreme Court order which states that Retd Justice Mukul Mudgal-led three-member committee would continue with the probe related to betting and spot-fixing in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League last year.
"There is currently an ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigation underway in relation to the Ajman All Stars League held recently in Ajman, UAE," ACU general manager Alex Marshall said in a statement.
Kolkata Knight Riders will begin their title defence against a formidable Mumbai Indians side in the opening match of the eighth edition of Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
Having notched three straight victories after a string of losses, Mumbai Indians are looking to defeat Rajasthan Royals and inch closer to a play-offs berth when the two sides face each other in an Indian Premier League encounter in Mumbai on Sunday.
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets at the Eden Gardens to begin their Indian Premier League (IPL) defense on an emphatic note.
A win over Sunrisers Hyderabad is imperative for Mumbai Indians to keep their chances alive of making it to the play-offs.
Hosts Kolkata Knight Riders run the risk of slipping away when they face resurgent defending champions and 'nemesis' Mumbai Indians in an IPL clash, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
The second day of the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Railways had the visiting team players, led by their skipper Suryakumar Yadav, doing the duty of groundsmen as the cricketers tried to clear the waterlogged areas of the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi.
It will be an uphill task for the defending champs given their opponents' form and formidable line-up.
With spinners extracting significant turn and bounce exploiting the roughs, Sarwate (3/55) and off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (2/42) blew away Saurashtra's top half to seize the momentum.
Kings XI retains Chris Gayle. Steve Smith returns to the IPL. Delhi Daredevils sacks 10 players!
A round-up of results from the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Medium pace duo of K V Sasikanth and Cheepurapalli Stephen returned with five wickets each as Andhra Pradesh notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Delhi in their Group A Ranji Trophy match on Friday. A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches on Friday.
Bhui faced 313 balls during his unbeaten century and struck 15 boundaries and four sixes. A round-up of Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Mumbai opener Prithvi Shaw, who had played his first game in first class cricket after serving a eight-month ban for doping, smashed a quick 66 off 62 balls against Baroda. A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.
Leg spinner Pravin Tambe was on Monday surprisingly included in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team to take on Jharkhand in the four-day Group A match starting at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 6.
Their confidence restored after a bumpy start, a transformed Delhi Daredevils will look to stretch Kings XI Punjab to the limit when they face off in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians have won three out of the four IPL finals they have been part of, including the two against CSK in 2013 and 2015.
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