Mohd Siraj to lead Hyderabad against Mumbai at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

Hyderabad face Mumbai in a crucial Ranji Trophy Group D clash at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. Injuries to Tanmay Agarwal, Tanay Thyagarajan and Nitesh Reddy hurt Hyderabad, while Mohd Siraj leads the side against Siddesh Lad’s in-form Mumbai

Hyderabad: A struggling Hyderabad, with 13 points from five games (one win, one loss and three draws), takes on formidable Mumbai, the Group D table topper with 24 points from five games (three wins and two draws), in the Ranji Trophy league match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here from Thursday.

The home team suffered serious blows with injured opener and most consistent batter Tanmay Agarwal, frontline left-arm spinner Tanay Thyagarajan and Nitesh Reddy ruled out of the match.

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This means the batting responsibility will be on the less experienced but season’s lead run-getter for Hyderabad, wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Radesh (383 runs), G Rahul Singh (376 runs), M Abhirath Reddy (260 runs), K Himateja (231 runs), exciting P Aman Rao — whose exploits in the Vijay Hazare Trophy grabbed national attention and have virtually assured him of a Ranji debut tomorrow — and seasoned campaigner K Rohit Rayudu (156 runs from four matches), who badly needs a big knock for himself and the team.

On a pitch which surprisingly has a tinge of green, India fast bowler Mohd Siraj, who is leading the side, should relish the prospects. He will look for support from all-rounder Chama Milind and pacers C Rakshann Readdi and B Punnaiah.

In contrast, Mumbai, despite being depleted for this game, is known for finding wins at the right time in a Ranji campaign. It will rely on in-form captain Siddesh Lad (530 runs), all-rounder Shams Mulani (285 runs), wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand (356 runs) and Sarfraz Khan (178 runs) in batting.

Injuries have ruled out Shardul Thakur, Ajinkya Rahane and Tushar Kotian, while Yashasvi Jaiswal is also unavailable for tomorrow’s game.

Hyderabad will hope to take full advantage of playing two crucial matches at the business end of the season at home in familiar conditions.