Ranji Trophy: Mumbai to clash with Uttar Pradesh at Wankhede Stadium

Thanks to outright wins over Bihar Andhra Pradesh and Kerala Ajinkya Rahanersquos Mumbai team are leading the Ranji Trophy Elite Group lsquoBrsquo with 20 pointsIn complete contrast Mumbairsquos next opponents Uttar Pradesh led by international Nitish Rana are struggling at fourth place with just five points from their first three games Both teams clash at the Wankhede Stadium todayCoach Joshi wary of hostsFormer national selector Sunil Joshi who is UPrsquos head coach admitted that playing against Mumbai at home is a big challenge for any teamldquoMumbai are a special team for everyone They have won the Ranji Trophy maximum number 41 of times mdash do well against Mumbai and you play for Indiardquo was the former leftarm spinnerrsquos message to his team He added ldquoOne or two big performances against them and players go to the next level Itrsquos a great opportunity to perform in front of the Wankhede Stadium crowd toordquo Joshi told reporters on Thursday Also Read Benrsquos strokeful 70 may well be a matchwinning knock Englands opener DuckettOpener Aryan Juyal 22 who scored 115 against Kerala is UPrsquos topscorer with 198 runs from three games India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar 33 who played just one game mdash against Bengal mdash is leading UPrsquos bowling charts with eight scalpsldquoAs a team we are looking good We have the players Bhuvi and Sameer Rizvi are back Some of our playersmdashKuldeep Yadav Rinku Singh Yash Dayal Dhruv Jurel Saurabh Kumarmdashare on national duty which is a great thing But itrsquos an opportunity for the rest of the players to raise their hands and emerge successfully It should be a good game I am looking forward to itrdquo Joshi remarkedUP have experience DhawalMumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni who will be playing his 95th Ranji Trophy game insisted that the hosts will have the same winning intent ldquoUP are a good team they have experienced players Nitish is playing this year Bhuvneshwar and Ankit Rajpoot are there too But Mumbai are in good form playing good cricket won the last three games outrightMumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni will be playing his 95th Ranji tie todayldquoBut we never get complacent and will play this match with the same attitude of staying in the present It is important to play as a team Mumbai are known to perform as a team and we showcased the same approach in the last three gamesrdquo said KulkarniThe Mumbai bowlers have done exceedingly well by claiming 20 wickets in all the three games Leftarm spinner Shams Mulani and pacer Mohit Avasthi have played vital roles by claiming 17 and 16 wickets respectivelyKulkarni 35 wants Avasthi to keep performing He looks in good rhythm and hopefully continues with the same form throughout the season If he keeps performing like this till the final he will Zprobably be in the reckoning for India selection He is a sharp inswing bowler who hits the pitch with good pace and has the experience of performing well at this firstclass levelrdquo Kulkarni remarked