Ranji Trophy: Quarterfinal preview

Ranji trophy quarterfinal matches will begin from 2nd Jan and they will end on 5th of January. Defending champions Rajasthan and 39 time champion Mumbai have booked their berths for the Quarterfinal stage. Along with them 6 time winners Karnataka, 4 time champions Madhya Pradesh, 2 time champions and last year’s semi finalist Tamil Nadu, and winners in 1991 Haryana. And, from the plate group Maharashtra and Hyderabad have also qualified for the knockout rounds. Lets have a look at the matches

Ist quarterfinal RAJASTHAN Vs HYDERABAD

Last time when the two teams met, Rajasthan had completely outclassed the Hyderabad team. It was the worst defeat for Hyderabad in their entire history. The Hyderabad side would never want to repeat that kind of performance again. With the help of outstanding bowlers like young sensation, Deepak Chahar, the Hyderabad team were bowled out for the lowest Ranji total in the 76 years history of Ranji Trophy. They were all out for just 21 runs and young Deepak has picked 8 wickets of just 10 runs. Coming from the plate group their task would not be easy.

Rajasthan on the other hand have just achieved the impossible. Rajasthan were at 5 points from their 5 matches, and they were languishing 2^nd from the bottom in their group. To make it to the knockouts they had to win both of their remaining matches and the other matches must also go in their favour. Against the odds they qualified from the knockout stages . But if Rajasthan wants to regain their title, they should improve on their bowling with their newly appointed bowling coach Meyrick Pringle.

2nd quarterfinal TAMIL NADU Vs MAHARASHTRA

Maharashtra, is the other team to be promoted from the Plate group. They will face Tamil Nadu in Chennai, which finished first in Group B. Lakshmipathy Balaji will lead Tamil Nadu in the quarters. Tamil Nadu who lost to the eventual champions Rajasthan in the semi finals last year, have played extraordinarily, and are especially strong in their batting department. Opener Abhinav Mukund have already scored two double centuries this season. Also K Vasudevadas, a 26 year old left hand middle order batsman have scored two consecutive hundreds this season.

On the other hand the Maharashtra team are also looking quite dangerous this year. Ankit Bawne, a 19 year young talent is the key player for the Maharashtra side. He has already scored two hundreds and two fifties to show his talent. So overall the Tamil Nadu team who have much more experienced players like Murali Vijay, Badrinath, Balaji and Mukund can have an edge over the Maharashtra team, but this is cricket where anything can happen.

3rd quarterfinal MUMBAI Vs MADHYA PRADESH

At Indore, the formidable Mumbai side will take on the Holkars a.k.a Madhya Pradesh team. Mumbai easily defeated Punjab in their last league match to top group A. Mumbai who were chasing a small target of 127 runs just lost one wicket and eased through to the quarters. Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai captain, became the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, surpassing his former team-mate Amol Mazumdar. Mumbai has some dangerous players like Ramesh powar who have clinched 25 wickets till now, and has also shown some great class with the bat, also youngsters like Ankeet Chavan, Kastubh Pawar is also playing well this season.

Madhya Pradesh who won this prestigious tournament last time in the year 1952-53 are also the team to be watch out for, with some experienced players like Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena and youngsters like Zafar Ali and Amardeep Singh they can turn down any big team, but if they want to get the victory over 39 times champion Mumbai they really need to outclass them in all the departments of the game.

4th quarterfinal KARNATAKA Vs HARYANA

The last quarterfinal will be played between the teams of Karnataka and Haryana at the Chinnaswami stadium Bangalore. If we go just by the names then surely Karnataka team are an inch ahead of Haryana, but names don’t matter much, it’s all how you perform on the given day. Karnataka who were second in their group with 22 points after Mumbai have some experienced campaigners like Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny, CM Gautam etc and some outstanding youngsters like Bharat Chipli, Amit Verma etc. But, Haryana who were third in their group with 14 points from one win and 5 draws have been inconsistent in performance. Haryana who defeated the strong team of Gujarat in their last league match by 140 runs can surely beat Karnataka if every player shows his best at the field.