T20 Mumbai: Day 2 - Thane vs North Mumbai and Andheri vs Bandra Preview
The second edition of the Mumbai Premier League got underway in a brilliant fashion as Aakash Tigers MWS and SoBo SuperSonics posted comprehensive wins on day 1 of the tournament.
Going into day 2, Eagle Thane Strikers will take on North Mumbai Panthers in the first match of the day while ARCS Andheri, who lost to SuperSonics in their first match, will take on NaMo Bandra Blasters in the second match of the day.
Eagle Thane Strikers vs North Mumbai Panthers
Tournament debutants Eagle Thane Strikers will kick off their Mumbai Premier League campaign against a relatively weaker North Mumbai Warriors. Strikers did not retain anyone prior to the drafts but have picked some quality players for their maiden season in the competition.
Led by veteran Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman and IPL 2019 champion Aditya Tare, Strikers also have India and Chennai Super Kings pacer Shardul Thakur, whose efforts went in vain in the final, Sarfaraz Khan who had a decent IPL for Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai pacer Balwinder Sandhu etc.
This is an important tournament for young Sarfaraz Khan, who returns home and is trying to get back into the Mumbai side after moving out of the city to represent Uttar Pradesh in the Indian domestic circuit. He is definitely one of the players to watch out for in the competition.
On the other hand, the Panthers have a right mix of youth and experience. After retaining Indian Test opener and Delhi Capitals star Prithvi Shaw, Panthers picked the experienced trio of 47-year-old leggie Pravin Tambe, all-rounder Vikrant Auti and wicketkeeper-batsman Swapnil Salvi, apart from going for young sensations Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is the backbone of India under-19 side and one of the top performers in the 2018 edition and Sairaj Patil, who was brought by using the RTM.
Squads:
Eagle Thane Strikers: Aditya Tare, Balwinder Sandhu, Shardul Thakur, Sarfaraz Khan, Ankush Jaiswal, Mayur Sanap, Rakesh Prabhu, Kaushik Chikhalikar, Siddhant Singh, Aishwary Surve, Ajinkya Beloshe, Alpesh Ramjani, Jaideep Pardeshi, Kruthik Hanagavadi, Sachin Wagh, Sagar Mishra, Shrikant Limbole, Asif Shaikh, Prashant Bhoir.
Player to watch out for: Sarfaraz Khan
North Mumbai Panthers: Onkar Dattaram Gurav, Pravin Tambe, Prithvi Shaw, Prathamesh Dake, Sairaj Patil, Vikrant Vilas Auti, Sumeet Dhekale, Vishal Dhagaonkar, Ajinkya Patil, Swapnil Salvi, Atif Attarwala, Aashray Sajnani, Neil Narvekar, Moondeep Mangela, Rahul Sawant, Shashikant Kadam, Jude Singh, Karan Nande, Aditya Rane, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Player to watch out for: Yashasvi Jaiswal
ARCS Andheri vs NaMo Bandra Blasters
After suffering a loss to SuperSonics in the second match of the competition, ARCS Andheri will take on NaMo Bandra Blasters who are playing their first game of the season.
Choosing to bowl first, Andheri were silenced by the SuperSonics batting unit, which scored 188/5 in 20 overs, thanks to a stroke-filled 49-ball 96 from Parag Khanapurkar, who was supported well by Rohan Raje, who scored 18 off just 6 balls. Chasing 189 to win, Andheri were bundled out for just 140 with openers Sufiyn Sheikh and Akhil Herwadkar top-scoring for them with 30 and 26 respectively.
Andheri, without a doubt have the best top-5 in the tournament with the likes of Shiekh, Akhil, skipper Kevin Almeida, Shubham Ranjane and Himachal Pradesh all-rounder Pankaj Jaiswal. With the ball, they have Ranjane and Jaiswal, alongside experienced campaigners Iqbal Abdullah and Tushar Deshpande. They will look to come back stronger and get their points tally underway.
Blasters, on the other hand, have retained Mumbai and Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer, who is back from a successful IPL campaign, Ekanth Kerkar zand have brought the likes of former Mumbai Indians all-rounder Siddarth Chitnis, Nikhil Patel, Aditya Dhamal, Sagar Chhabria etc.
Squads:
ARCS Andheri: Akhil Herwadkar, Kevin Almeida, Praful Waghela, Tanmay Mishra, Amogh Bhatkal, Azhar Ansari, Gaurav Jathar, Iqbal Abdulla, Kadir Patel, Pankaj Jaiswal, Shubham Ranjane, Vaidik Murkar, Sufiyan Shaikh, Sumit Meher, Akash Parkar, Ankur Singh, Atharva Poojari, Salil Agarkar, Tushar Deshpande, Vineet Sinha.
NaMo Bandra Blasters: Nikhil Patil, Shreyas Iyer, Shrideep Mangela, Aditya Dhumal, Rohit Kambli, Sagar Chhabria, Saksham Jha, Siddharth Chitnis, Sujit Haravi, Sujit Nayak, Yash Malap, Eknath Kerkar, Prasad Pawar, Atul Singh, Karsh Kothari, Nikhil Date, Siddharth Sharma, Uzair Khan.