Syed Mushtaq Ali semifinal: Rajasthan hope for all-round show vs Tamil Nadu

JAIPUR: When Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu met last year in a semifinal clash of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the former was undone by the latter's all-round brilliance and lost the match by seven wickets. Pitted against each other yet again in the race to the final of the domestic T20 tournament, Rajasthan will hope the rematch on Friday at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, has a different result in store.As it has been the case throughout, batting will be again under scanner and a lot will ride on left-hand batsman Mahipal Lomror's success with the willow.
Playing the role of an aggressor to perfection, Lomror's solo act will not suffice given Tamil Nadu's ability. Other pinch hitters like Rajesh Bishnoi (sr) and Arjit Gupta's contribution will become equally important as the seniors in the side if Rajasthan have to challenge the might of Dinesh Karthik's side.
Rajasthan vice-captain Lomror feels batting is not a concern as all the batsmen have scored in one or the other match and if any one player can score at a strike rate of 150 plus, we can easily have at least 150 on the board. "Even if one of us plays at a strike rate of 150, toh humara kaam ho jaayega (then our job is done) as then the opposition comes under-pressure for our bowling unit is pretty formidable. And in the T20s no team is big or small. We all have seen how the match turns on its head within a couple of overs. So I don't see why we can't win against Tamil Nadu, more so when we have got the momentum. Last year we didn't win as consistently as this year in the league stage. We are better placed this season," Lomror told TOI exuding confidence.
Commenting on his match-winning knock of 78 not out off 37 balls in the quarterfinal match against Bihar, the 21-year-old said it was one of those days when every shot he desired to play came off his bat smoothly. "I could hit wherever I wanted to. But this does not happen every day. If today things went my way, tomorrow it might not be. It also depends on the match situation and at which stage of the match you get to take to the crease. The role changes accordingly," he said.
Wicket at Motera has been a talking point, but Lomror stressed on the team strategy of scoring at least 150-160. "Since Motera pitches are freshly laid, therefore one cannot be sure about nature. One witnesses tennis ball bounce on certain odd balls. Having said that, it's not a difficult surface to bat on and as a batting unit our approach will be to score at least 150."