Mumbai faces do-or-die situation against Gujarat

Mumbai, Dec 24 (UNI) It is a do or die situation for the 36-time Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai when they take on Gujarat in their fourth round Elite division match at the Wankhede stadium here tomorrow.

Mumbai who are still without a point after a humiliating loss to Hyderabad and defeats on the first innings to Bengal and Punjab are in serious danger of being relegated to the plate division if they do not pull up their socks.

The powerhouse of Indian cricket would be a little at ease as they will play their first match at home this season after three ties away from home. They would look at this match and the next against Rajasthan, also at home, to garner as many points as possible to get into the safety zone and then think whether they can make the semifinals from this group.

For this, the Mumbai batsmen will have to improve tremendously and reduce the burden on their captain Amol Muzumdar, who has been rescuing them time and again.

Players like Rohit Sharma and Sahil Kukreja, along with seasoned opener Vinayak Mane, would have to bat to their potential if Mumbai is to make a mark against the Gujarat side.

Mumbai will miss Aijt Agarkar in the bowling department, who has still not recovered from a groin injury and Swapnil Hazare and Wilkin Mota along with Abhishek Nair will have to give them the initial breakthroughs.

For the Gujarat side, who have four points in the bag so far, India discard Parthiv Patel would be looking to put up another good performance with the bat as well as behind the stumps.

The Gujaratis also have a decent line up with Neeraj Patel being the mainstay of their batting. He will be supported by opener Azhar Bilakhia and Bhavik Thaker, while the bowling will be in the hands of Ashraf Makda, Hitesh Majumdar and Amit Singh.

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