Jammu and Kashmir State had stunned heavyweights Mumbai in 2014 (December) at the Wankhede Stadium in the Ranji Trophy match. At that time J&K were the underdogs often placed at the bottom of the table. A decade later, J&K now a Union Territory come here with a better reputation and purpose. They will face a star studded Mumbai in the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at MCA’s Bandra Kurla Complex on Thursday.
The Ranji Trophy resumes on Thursday with the race to knockouts hotting up in the second phase. Jammu and Kashmir are placed second in Elite Group A with 23 points after five matches, a place above Mumbai (22 points). J&K are unbeaten in the league so far and have registered three wins while Mumbai after losing the opening game to group toppers Baroda (27 points) have recovered well to notch up three wins.
Mumbai have India Test skipper Rohit Sharma and opening battter Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad. Also Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur has been part of the Indian Test squad. Shivam Dube has represented India in T20Is mainly and few ODIs. Rahane is leading the Mumbai Ranji team. The match has generated buzz after Rohit confirmed his availability and presence of other Indian stars. MCA has also reportedly increased the seating capacity at the ground for the match.
The visitors on the other hand have no stars and will rely on in-form batsman Shubham Khajuria. As an opener he had cracked a century (107) followed by a half century (78) in that match to lead the visitors to a memorable chase of 237/6 at Wankhede Stadium in 2014. It was J&K’s first ever win over Mumbai and also their first major win. Khajuria won the man of the match award in that game, and will be the key man again for the visitors.
In-form batter Shubham Khajuria from Jammu and Kashmir. |
Khajuria became the first batter to score a double-century for Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy in 22 years during the match against Maharashtra in Srinagar earlier this season. He has been prolific scorer for Jammu and Kashmir scoring 465 runs in five Ranji matches at an average of 58.12. For Mumbai Shreyas Iyer is the top scorer with 452 runs in four matches at an astonishing average of 90.40. Youngster Ayush Mhatre has also scored over 400 runs.
Iyer and Shardul are the only survivors who played in that Ranji match in 2014. Rohit and Rahane were part of the Indian team. Suryakumar Yadav was the skipper of the Mumbai Ranji team in 2014. Surya is currently leading the Indian T20 team against England in a bilateral series at home.
BKC wicket is normally a flat wicket full of runs but the groundsmen have worked hard to make it a true wicket offering something for everyone. The wicket will not only be a batting paradise but will also offer turn and bounce to bowlers if they pitch in the right areas. Pacers will try to exploit the initial juice from the wicket.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma batted and fielded with the Mumbai team on Tuesday. The hosts practiced in the morning while visitors had a nets session in the evening.
