Bengaluru: A star-studded batting line-up, headlined by troika of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and rising sensation Prithvi Shaw, make Mumbai runaway favourites against Hyderabad in the first Vijay Hazare semi-final, here Wednesday. With the inclusion of Prithvi and Rahane, who joined the squad after completing their Test match duty in Hyderabad along with presence of Rohit and Shreyas Iyer, the Mumbai batting does have a menacing look to it. Ambati Rayudu and young pacer Mohammed Siraj do add muscle to the Hyderabad side, which has been impressive in the national One Day Championship so far. With Prithvi set to open with India’s limited overs vice-captain Rohit, left-handed opener Akhil Herwadkar is expected to be benched. Rahane will come in place of either Siddhesh Lad or Suryakumar Yadav.
The Indian ODI squad members are set to report in Guwahati on October 18 and if Mumbai happen to win the semi-final, Rohit will miss the summit clash on October 20. For Mumbai, the three top run-getters in the tournament so far have been Shreyas (311 runs), Prithvi (287) and Yadav (237 runs). Rahane is fourth in the list with 230 runs. The Mumbai bowlers have also been consistent with seamer Dhawal Kulkarni (14 wickets) and left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (15 wickets) sharing the bulk of the wickets.
Medium pacer Tushar Deshpande, who grabbed five against Bihar in the quarter-final also is in good form. For Hyderabad, their premier performer has been BP Sandeep (342) and Tanmay Agarwal (292 runs). The bowling will depend on Siraj (8 wickets from 6 games) and Mehidy Hasan (13 wickets from 8 games).
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