Having been ignored by the national selectors despite consistent performances in domestic cricket, young batting guns Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw get another chance to prove their worth when Mumbai, who earlier this month clinched the Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for the first time, launch their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign against Bengal at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Saturday.
Since India were outplayed by England in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in Australia, there has been a clamour to include youngsters in the team, and this tournament, which involves One-Dayers, provides an ideal opportunity to the likes of Sarfaraz and Prithvi to enhance their case for selection in India's white-ball team.
Shaw scored 332 runs in 10 games@36. 88, at a superb strike rate of 181. 42, including a61-ball 134 against Assam while Sarfaraz, who has rustled up close to 2,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy in the past two seasons, hit 199 runs in 10 matches@28. 42@122. 83, with his most crucial knock being an unbeaten 31-ball 36 in the final against Himachal Pradesh, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
Just two days ahead of the event, Mumbai suffered a big blow when experienced allrounder Shivam Dube was ruled out due to a side strain while bowling in the nets at Ranchi. Dube was replaced by allrounder Khizer Dafedar, who had recently been named as the vice-captain of the Mumbai Under-25 for the BCCI's U-25 tournament in Rajkot.
Third win for West Zone
West Zone scored their third win on the trot when they beat North Zone by 2 runs in the Senior Women's Inter-Zonal T20 at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Friday. West Zone had earlier beaten North East Zone by 75 runs, and East Zone by 5 wickets. Brief Scores: West Zone 144-6 in 20 overs (H Kazi 54) beat North Zone 142-6 in 20 overs (Priya Punia 36) by 2 runs.
