Published: Jan 01, 2017, 07:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 31, 2016, 07:51 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates from the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 semi-finals. After almost three months of intense action, we have finally reached to the final-four stage, with defending champions Mumbai, team-to-beat Tamil Nadu, dark horses Jharkhand and batting powerhouse Gujarat the only remaining teams in the fray. These four teams will resume their bid to make it to the final as the two semi-finals go underway from Sunday. While Mumbai will meet Tamil Nadu at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium in Rajkot, Gujarat and Jharkhand will lock horns at the Virdarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur. Both the games will be played at neutral venues in order to negate the undue home advantages that host teams tend to take.
There cannot be a better start to the New Year as four top sides of Ranji Trophy season 2016-17 battle it out to get a hand on the coveted title. The clash which is likely to grab more eyeballs of the two is the Mumbai – Tamil Nadu clash. Mumbai, the current title holders, have not played their A game as yet. They have looked scratchy and been extremely lucky to reach to the semis without quite peaking. Injuries to key players Dhawal Kulkarni and Akhil Herwadkar have not helped them either. They somehow managed to beat Hyderabad by a small margin of 30 runs in the quarter-final to get to the semis.
Tamil Nadu on the other hand have been the team to beat. They have played some exceptional cricket so far and will look to get the momentum going in the semis against domestic heavyweights Mumbai. Both the teams would have hoped to get the services of Team India stars Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay (Tamil Nadu) and Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai), who are not busy right now. However for different reasons, the stars decided to opt out of the clash. Their absence notwithstanding, both the sides have some big names and they will hope to get vital contributions from them.
On the other hand, this season’s batting powerhouse Gujarat will take on dark-horses Jharkhand, who have made it to this stage for the first time. Gujarat’s batsmen have dominated this season, with Priyank Panchal topping the run charts. Besides, Panchal and his opening partner Samit Gohel have cracked triple tons this season. Their skipper Parthiv Patel’s return from the national duty has only bolstered the squad. It will thus be a tough ask for Jharkhand bowlers to stop Gujarat’s juggernaut. A lot will depend on how their veteran bowler Shabaz Nadeem fares. Besides, Jharkhand batsmen have also fared well so far, which makes it an even contest.
The two winners from these contests will then head to Indore, where the final of Ranji Trophy 2016-17 will be played at the Holkar Stadium from January 10 to January 14. But for now, all the four teams will focus on the semi-finals that go underway on Monday.
