Mumbai is already assured of QF berth.
Unlike in the previous season when Mumbai's qualification for the Ranji Trophy knockout was in doubt until the last league game, Aditya Tare's young team has made it to the quarterfinal quite comfortably this time. With 32 points from seven games, Mumbai will finish the league stage on top irrespective of the result in their last fixture from Tuesday.
In that regard, their last Group B game against second-placed Gujarat (23 points) at the Wankhede Stadium will only be of academic interest.
However, Mumbai will not want to lose the momentum they have gained through their four outright wins out of seven despite the fact that the premier domestic tournament takes a two-month break to allow the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy and 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali in December and January, respectively. It would give the national selectors a pool to pick players from for the odd places for ICC World T20 to be held in India early next year.
With the Ranji Trophy set to resume to February 3, 2016, Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit felt that teams could lose rhythm due to the gap.
"Four-day cricket is entirely different. The break in Ranji Trophy does affect the momentum but we have certain plans to counter it. Instead of worrying about this, we will focus on the job at hand – the limited-overs cricket that will follow this match," Pandit said here on Monday.
Mumbai will play with a free mind as they have nothing to worry about in terms of results. The team boasts of the tournament's highest run-getter this season in Shreyas Iyer (818 runs at 74.36, 3x100, 3x50). But their bowling department has been crippled by the absence of left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar and off-spinner Ankush Jaiswal, both having been reported for suspect action and are undergoing correction process.
The 40-time Ranji champions are already without the injured all-rounder Abhishek Nayar, thus giving opportunities to youngsters like under-23 left-arm spinner Dhrumil Matkar and former India under-19 wicketkeeper Sufiyan Shaikh for this match.
"We are under no pressure at all," Pandit said. "This game is important to keep the momentum going. This also gives our players the best chance to give their best. We are focussing more on our process than thinking of goals.
Of course, everyone wants to win."
'Focussing on the process' has become a common phrase in cricket. Shortly after Pandit spoke about it, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel also stressed on the processes that his team will have to focus on in the ensuing four days.
Gujarat are not yet assured of the quarterfinal berth as they have other teams – Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Baroda – also vying for the remaining two slots from this group.
Patel, the diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman who made his Test debut at the age of 17 in 2002, was not worried about what lies in store.
"We are well-placed in the points table," he said. "We have not worried about the other teams and results throughout the tournament. We were focussed on playing good cricket and things have fallen in place. Nothing changes for this game, either," the 30-year-old left-handed batsman said.
Patel was wary about Mumbai's strength at home. However, the presence of experienced off-spinner Ramesh Powar, who has been part of many a Mumbai Ranji Trophy winning sides in the past, will help the visitors.
"Powar has been very good for us. His inputs are very important, especially after playing a number of games at the Wankhede. Winning outright here is very important. Three points will not serve the purpose," Patel said.
Gujarat, who have a better Net Run Rate than any of their other contenders for the next stage, face threat from Punjab (20 points), TN (18), UP (18), MP (17) and Baroda (16). Gujarat will hope that they do not lose to Mumbai and at the same time pray that TN, UP and MP do not win with a bonus point against Punjab, Baroda and Andhra, respectively.
Teams (from):
Mumbai: Aditya Tare (C&WK), Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Nikhil Patil, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Jay Bista, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Badre Alam, Abhishek Raut, Iqbal Abdulla, Dhrumil Matkar, Sufiyan Shaikh
Gujarat: Parthiv Patel (C&WK), Priyank Panchal, Bhargav Merai, Rujul Bhatt, Manpreet Juneja, Chirag Gandhi, Alazaz Khan Pathan, Raxlee Taylor, Axar Patel, Hardik Patel, Ramesh Powar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rush Kalaria, Jasprit Bumrah, Mehul Patel
ELSEWHERE
GROUP A:Assam vs Bengal in Guwahati, Maharashtra vs Karnataka in Pune, Team Rajasthan vs Odisha in Jaipur, Vidarbha vs Haryana in Nagpur
GROUP B: Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra in Indore, Tamil Nadu vs Punjab in Dindigul, Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda in Greater Noida
GROUP C: Hyderabad vs Jharkhand in Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir vs Saurashtra in Jammu, Kerala vs Himachal Pradesh in Malappuram, Tripura vs Services in Agartala
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