Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2016 Final Preview: Raina, Irfan will look to lead from the front

On a thrilling final day of the Super League of the Syed Mushtaq Ali All-India Twenty20 tournament in Mumbai on Monday, Baroda and Uttar Pradesh won close games to edge out Mumbai and Gujarat respectively and qualify for the final, which will be a floodlit affair at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. Suresh Raina-captained Uttar Pradesh defeated Gautam Gambhir’s Delhi to enter Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. Irfan Pathan’s Baroda pipped Mumbai to title clash by virtue of better run-rate.

Uttar Pradesh:

The form of their 2 batsmen, Prashant Gupta and wicket-keeper Eklavya Dwivedi will be pleasing for the UP side. Gupta has scored 268 runs at an average of 38.28 while Dwivedi has contributed 258 at 64.50 remaining unbeaten 3 times in the tourney. Their skipper Suresh Raina has had a quiet tournament thus far and will be looking to stamp his class on the final before leaving for Australia to join the national side. Piyush Chawla has been in splendid form picking up 15 wickets at 12.80. The leg-spinner is second on the list of highest wicket-takers for the competition. Irfan Pathan with 16 wickets leads the way and Chawla will look to give the Baroda captain a stiff competition in the all-important match.

Fast bowlers Ankit Rajpoot and Amit Mishra have been equally impressive taking 11 and 9 wickets respectively. Mishra also contributed with the bat in the tense run-chase against Delhi. His unbeaten 19 off 9 included 2 fours and 1 six and took the pressure off Dwivedi who made a solid unbeaten 49 off 35. The experience of Praveen Kumar will come handy in tight situations. The trump card for the side will be chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav who has picked up 7 wickets in the tourney. UP will have to keep a check on the big-hitting talents of Baroda to have a say in the final and Yadav might just offer the right challenge with his left-arm variations. The fact that the team is unbeaten in the competition should give Raina a lot of confidence ahead of the big match.

Baroda:

The highest run-scorer in the tournament, Hardik Pandya, has been in sparkling form for his team. He has scored 364 runs at an average of 60.66 including 3 fifties. His ability to clear the ropes is secondary to none and he possesses the skills to take the game away from the opposition in no time. The all-rounder has picked up 9 wickets at 19.77 bowling at a good clip. UP will be wary of Pandya and look to keep him as quiet as possible. Kedar Devdhar with 207 runs and skipper Irfan with 190 runs are the other batsmen who have looked in good touch and will look to continue their form. Yusuf Pathan has had a subdued time recently and will be looking to explode in the final. Deepak Hooda played a brilliant match-winning innings against Mumbai and will look to continue his form.

Irfan’s bowling has been top notch and he has swung the new ball well. His 16 wickets at 14.00 include a five-for and a four-for. His captaincy also been superb and he has backed the younger players in the squad. Apart from him and Pandya, the likes of left-arm seamer Rishi Arothe (8) and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh (8) have also been amongst the wickets. Singh wasn’t picked for the last game in a like-for-like selection that gave Bhargav Bhatt his 2nd match. Bhatt has picked up 4 wickets and also hit the winning runs in the dramatic match against Mumbai. The likes of off-spinner Soaeb Tai and Munaf Patel will also look to contribute with the ball and keep the UP batsmen under control.

Form guide: (Last five matches, most recent first):

Uttar Pradesh: WWWWW

Baroda: WLWLW

Uttar Pradesh (probable): 1 Prashant Gupta, 2 Samarth Singh, 3 Suresh Raina (Capt), 4 Umang Sharma, 5 Akshdeep Nath, 6 Eklavya Dwivedi (wk), 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Ankit Rajpoot.

Baroda (probable): 1 Kedar Devdhar, 2 Mrunal Devdhar, 3 Hardik Pandya, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Irfan Pathan (Capt), 7 Pinal Shah (wk), 8 Soaeb Tai, 9 Bhargav Bhatt, 10 Rishi Arothe, 11 Munaf Patel.

Stats:

1. Uttar Pradesh was defeated by Baroda in the final of the 2013-14 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

2. This will be Baroda’s 3^rd final in this competition. The team has won it twice and finished second best once.