Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Upbeat Hyderabad face Gujarat in quarterfinals

Hyderabad: Buoyed by a superlative show in the Elite Group E League when they won all their five matches, an upbeat Hyderabad face a strong Gujarat in the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament at Palam Grounds, New Delhi on Thursday. The match starts at 1 pm. This is already Hyderabad’s best-ever performance […]

Hyderabad: Buoyed by a superlative show in the Elite Group E League when they won all their five matches, an upbeat Hyderabad face a strong Gujarat in the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament at Palam Grounds, New Delhi on Thursday. The match starts at 1 pm.

This is already Hyderabad’s best-ever performance in the National T20 tournament. The turnaround of fortunes is one of the good things to happen to Hyderabad cricket. For Milap Mewada, it was a morale-boosting start in his first assignment as coach of the Hyderabad team in the new season. “I liked the way the boys showed the positive energy and the never-say-die spirit they showed in all their five league matches. They look upbeat as they face Gujarat,’’ said the former Baroda Ranji player.

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Tanmay Agarwal has led from the front admirably and the coach was all praise for the captain. Apart from his batting, Tanmay showed good leadership qualities with good bowling changes, according to the coach.

But it is his batting that has been very pleasing. He was the highest scorer in the league with 302 runs. “He is in majestic form. He was unstoppable in the league phase. Hyderabad has benefited hugely on his run-spree,’’ said Milap.

Hyderabad will miss G Hanuma Vihari, who is with the India A team for the South Africa tour, and pace bowler Mohammed Siraj, who is in the Indian team for the on-going T20 and Test series against the visiting New Zealand team. However, coach Milap expects other players to rise to the occasion. B Sandeep has the experience to play an important role in the middle order. In the league phase, his left-arm spin gave crucial breakthroughs to the team. Young Buddhi Rahul has also impressed with the willow.

The form of left-arm seamer CV Milind has been a big factor in Hyderabad’s magnificent run. Bowling with subtle variation and pace, Milind has bagged 16 wickets, including two five wicket hauls, in the league. Milind has shown his utility as a batsman also with his cameos in the later stages of the game. He along with Tanay Thyagarajan, another player in form both with the bat and ball, gave runs to Hyderabad. Ravi Teja and Rakshnann too have been good with variations in their medium pace. The bowlers will come into the test against Gujarat, who have been a consistent performer in the last few years. Although they will miss India A skipper Paschim Panchal and left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla, Gujarat are the team to beat.

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