Squads –
MAH –
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Naushad Shaikh (vc), Satyajeet Bachhav, Pradeep Dadhe, Swapnil Fulpagar (wk), Swapnil Gugale, Divyang Himganekar, Manoj Ingale, Kedar Jadhav, Azim Kazi, Shamshuzama Kazi, Mukesh Choudhary, Yash Nahar, Ranjeet Nikam, Ashay Palkar, Pavan Shah, Dhanrajsingh Pradeshi, Taranjitsingh Dhillon, Sunil Yadav, Jagdish Zope
TN –
Vijay Shankar (captain), Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Sandeep Warrier, R Sai Kishore, B Aparajith, N Jagadeesan, M Ashwin, Shahrukh Khan, Hari Nishaanth, M Siddharth, Ganga Sridhar Raju, M Mohammed, J Kousik, R Sanjay Yadav, R Silambarasan, R Vivek Raj, B Sai Sudharsan, P Saravana Kumar
Team News –
MAH –
– Maharashtra led by Ruturaj Gaikwad are placed in Group A alongside Goa, Odisha, Punjab, Puducherry and the defending champions Tamil Nadu this season.
– Maharashtra had a season to forget last year as they failed to qualify into the quarter-finals. They won only a single game out of five and finished in the second-last position in the group stage.
– Maharashtra are looking very weak this year as well, only positive thing is the brilliant form of Ruturaj Gaikwad.
– Ruturaj and Yash Nahar will most likely open the innings. Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in form of his life being the orange cap holder in this year’s IPL, his partner Yash is also a talented guy but yet to tested in bigger stage.
– Naushad Sheikh will bat at 1 down. He is an experienced cricketer and can contribute through both bat and bowl.
– Kedar Jadhav will bat at 2 down followed by Azim Kazi. Kedar Jadhav has international experience but has been performing very poor.
– Team has a very weak middle order. Except Kedar Jadhav and Azim Kazi no other good options are present in the middle.
– S Bacchav, Azim Kazi , S Kazi and Kedar Jadhav will lead the spin section of team.
– Mukesh Chaudhary and Pradeep Dadhe will lead the pace attack.
TN –
– The Tamil Nadu squad will be led by Vijay Shankar and also includes players like T Natarajan, Shahrukh Khan.
– Tamil Nadu are the defending champions having beaten Baroda in last year’s final.
– Washington Sundar have been added to the squad after a injury scare he faced in the England Test series, T Natarajan was also added into the squad after he was ruled out from the IPL due to Covid.
– Narayan Jagadeeshan and Hari Nishant will open the Innings. Both have been a very dominant pair in the TNPL. Hari Nishant was leading the top runs scorers board this TNPL season.
– Sai Sudarshan or Ganga Sridhar Raju can bat at 1 down. Both of them have been good this TNPL but only 1 will play.
– Baba Aparajith will bat next followed by Vijay Shankar and Washington Sundar. Team has a very strong middle order, all of this 3 can bat as well as bowl.
– Shahrukh Khan will play the role of finisher and can be promoted any day.
– R Sai Kishore, Washington Sundar and Murugan Ashwin will lead the spin attack of Tamil Nadu. Baba Aparajith and Shahrukh Khan can assist them.
– Sandeep Warrior, Vijay Shankar and T Natarajan (if fit)/ P Saravana Kumar will lead the pace attack of team.
Probable XI –
MAH –
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Yash Nahar, Naushad Shaikh, Kedar Jadhav, Azim Kazi, Ranjeet Nikam, Swapnil Fulpagar (wk), Satyajeet Bacchav, Shamsuzama Kazi, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe
TN –
Narayan Jagadeesan, Hari Nishaanth, Sai Sudarshan/G Sridhar Raju, Baba Aparajith, Vijay Shankar (c), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, T Natarajan/P Saravana Kumar, R Sai Kishore, Murugan Ashwin
Pitch Report –
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
The pitch at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium is a balanced one. The spinners will play a key role as the game progresses.
Team Blueprint –
WK –
N Jagadeeshan ( Open, RHB + wk, one of the top scorers in all domestic leagues, 336 runs in TNPL 2021, 364 in SMAT 2020, Must have )
S Fhulpagar( Middle order, RHB + wk, 1233 runs in 35 domestic t20 games, SR is low around 100 )
BAT –
Ruturaj Gaikwad ( Open, RHB, 635 runs in 16 games with a very good average of 46 in this year’s IPL, Must have, best captain choice )
Kedar Jadhav ( Middle order, RHB + part time off spin, international experience, 2358 t20 runs in 131 games, Must have)
S Khan( Middle order, RHB, 210 runs in 7 innings with a SR of 177 in TNPL 2021, Must have, can also bowl )
Hari Nishant( Open, LHB, highest scorer this TNPL with 368 runs, Must have)
Sai Sudarshan( Open/1 down, 358 runs in 8 games with a SR of 143 this TNPL, can strike the ball really big )
Ganga Sridhar Raju( Opener/1 down, LHN + part time spin, 285 runs with a SR of 137 in TNPL 2021 )
Naushad Sheikh( 1/2 down, experienced cricketer, 781 runs + 9 Wickets in t20 cricket, Must try)
Yash Nahar( Opener, RHB + medium pacer, 3420 runs + 75 Wickets in 101 club games, attacking batsman )
ALL –
B Aparajith( 1/2 down, RHB + off spin, 897 runs + 15 Wickets in t20 cricket, a must have choice )
V Shankar( Middle order, RHB + medium pace, haven’t been in his besy form recently)
Azim Kazi( 1/2 down, LHB + left arm orthodox, 104 against Mumbai in List A game recently, Must have )
J Zope( Left arm orthodox, bowling Allrounder, 5 Wickets in 3 games )
D Hinganekar( bowling Allrounder, Left arm medium fast + LHB, 19 t20 Wickets in 19 innings )
BOWL –
M Ashwin( Right Arm googly bowler, has been TN leading wicket taker so far, Must have)
T Natarajan( Left arm medium fast, very good at the death, International experience, Must have)
S Kazi( Off spinner, 18 t20 Wickets in 18 games played, can be a good option )
S Bacchav( Left arm orthodox, talented bowler, 41 t20 Wickets with a very impressive economy of 6.4 in 32 games )
Sandeep Warrior( Right Arm fast, good domestic t20 experience with 53 Wickets)
R Sai Kishore( Left arm orthodox, have been a part of CSK team last year, 33 Wickets in 29 SMAT games, Must )
M Mohammad( Right Arm medium fast, have been good recently, 10 Wickets in 6 innings in TNPL 2021 )
P Saravana Kumar( Right Arm medium fast, leading wicket taker for Warriors in TNPL 2021 )
P Dadhe( Right Arm medium fast, 7 Wickets in 5 List A games recently, 4 t20 Wickets in 4 games played )
C/VC Options –
MAH –
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Kedar Jadhav
TN –
Vijay Shankar
N Jagadeeshan
B Aparajith
Shahrukh Khan
