Teen sensation Prithvi Shaw and the immensely talented Shreyas Iyer are expected to hog the limelight when a formidable Mumbai take on Maharashtra in a quarter-final encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here tomorrow.
Fresh from his U-19 exploits, Prithvi blew hot and cold during the group league phase of the championship with two half-centuries and 153 runs to his name while Iyer has just landed from South Africa having been a part of the playing XI in last three ODIs.
With national selectors expected to be in attendance at the Airforce ground in Palam, Prithvi would like to once again showcase his skills at the national level while Shreyas would like to consolidate his case with another good show at the domestic level.
With Mumbai's most consistent player during the season --- Siddhesh Lad (368 in 6 matches) and IPL specialist Surya Kumar Yadav (295 runs in 6 matches) in good form, Aditya Tare's men will be hoping to put up a comprehensive show.
For Mumbai, a successful Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign will atleast be a consolation for their indifferent show in the Ranji Trophy and Maharashtra despite not having big names in their ranks can prove to be a difficult hurdle.
Their performances in the group league stages have been quite identical for both the sides.
Maharashtra had 18 points from six games with four wins and Mumbai also registered equal number of wins but lost two matches to end on 16 points.
For Maharashtra, onus will be on the batting trio of Ruturaj Gaikwad (317 runs), Naushad Sheikh (196 runs), Rahul Tripathi (185) and Ankit Bawne (251 runs) have been in good form with the willow.
"We are pretty confident that we have the firepower to do well against Mumbai. If you look at the group stage, we have beaten all the teams comprehensively. The key has been all the top-order batsmen have been amongst runs," senior player Ankit Bawne told PTI today.
Seniormost player Kedar Jadhav however won't be available due to injury and Bawne agreed that his presence would have been an added bonus.
"It is always nice to get the services of a player of Kedar's quality but as we have seen he couldn't play the last three ODIs because of injury. We will not get his services," bawne informed.
The right-hander was all praise for left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bacchav, who has got eight wickets in the group league stage.
"Satyajeet has been fantastic for us. He is someone who can restrict opposition during the middle overs. Also Shrikant (Mundhe) was phenomenal during our important last match against Kerala, where he got a five-for. So it's shaping up pretty well for us," said Bawne.
Asked if there will be any specific plans for Prithvi and Shreyas, Bawne replied: "Absolutely not. We have a team specific plan and we will stick to that. We have no special strategy for any player.
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