Mumbai Under Pressure To Record Big Win Against Meghalaya In Ranji Trophy

With their backs pressed firmly against the wall, defending champions Mumbai will be in desperate pursuit of a victory with bonus points when the they take on Meghalaya in the final Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Mumbai from Thursday. Mumbai's title defence took a heavy blow last week when an unfancied but better-prepared Jammu and Kashmir stuck to their principle of "keeping it simple" and defeated the Ajinkya Rahane-led side by five wickets here at the BKC Ground.

The return of India captain Rohit Sharma, batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal and the presence of mainstays like Shreyas Iyer and Rahane did not have much impact on the proceedings as J&K kept chipping away with consistent pressure on the hosts.

Only Shardul Thakur was able to put up a stoic resistance with his 51 and 119 in the two innings to give Mumbai a fighting chance but his efforts were not enough in a game in which batters failed to cash in on a friendly surface.

Thakur personified resilience and gumption particularly in the second innings when he battled cramps while putting on a massive partnership of 184 runs for the eighth wicket with Tanush Kotian.

Mumbai will now be without Rohit, Jaiswal and Iyer who will link up with the Indian team ahead of the upcoming ODI assignments against England followed by the Champions Trophy.

The domestic giants will hope that young guns in Ayush Mhatre, Suryansh Shedge and Angkrish Raghuvanshi come good against Meghalaya.

Mhatre has had a fine debut season. The 17-year-old has smacked two tons in six first-class matches so far, while scoring 408 runs in five Ranji Trophy games at 45.33, including two tons and a fifty.

Mumbai may also look to bring in Siddhesh Lad back. He has 373 runs in four matches with one