Mumbai will be chasing its third victory of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season when it goes up against Services at the Airforce Complex ground in Palam starting Wednesday.
With only eight points separating the top five teams in Group A, Mumbai, placed third behind Baroda and Jammu & Kashmir, knows that a win before the Ranji campaign pauses for the white-ball tournaments will hold it in good stead for a quarter-final berth when the First Class competition resumes in late January.
Services, currently fourth in the standings, would also like to challenge for a knockout spot. After defeats to Baroda and Jammu & Kashmir in the second and third rounds, it was able to bounce back by prevailing over Maharashtra by 35 runs in a tight battle last week.
“We had lost the previous two games. So to beat Maharashtra was very important. We won a close contest. And we won on their turf. For any team, that is bound to give confidence,” Services coach Rajesh Tiwari said after the team’s training session on Tuesday.
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It will have its task cut out, however, against the Ajinkya Rahane-led defending champion. Mumbai showed its might in the previous round, thumping Odisha by an innings and 103 runs on the back of a 354-run stand — the highest for the fourth wicket for the 42-time winner — between Shreyas Iyer and Siddhesh Lad. Iyer plundered a 228-ball 233 while Lad contributed 169 off 337 balls.
That Iyer also hit a century against Maharashtra suggests he is in fine form as he bids to find a way back into India’s Test plans. If he gets going on what should be a good surface for stroke-making, Services captain Rajat Paliwal may have a lot of head-scratching to do.
“The wickets in matches here have been taken by medium-pacers as well as spinners. Batters have also scored runs. There will be help for everyone from this surface,” Paliwal said.
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