Mumbai to face Delhi in Ranji quarters at Cuttack

MUMBAI: 40-time champions Mumbai will take on Delhi in the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy at Cuttack, beginning on February 16.
Defending champions Karnataka will take on Assam at Indore. In the other quarterfinals, Vidarbha have been drawn against Tamil Nadu, while Andhra Pradesh are set to clash with Maharashtra.
The semifinals will be played in Bengaluru and Kolkata from February 25 to March 1.The winners of Quarter-finals 1 and 2 will play in Bengaluru, while the winners of Quarterfinals 3 and 4 will play in Kolkata.
The final will be played in Mumbai from March 8. Meanwhile, Mumbai made two changes to the squad that took the first innings lead over Karnataka in the group stage.
The selectors dropped Iqbal Abdullah and Badre Alam and brought back allrounder Wilkin Mota and medium pace Tushar Deshpande for the Cuttack tie.
THE SQUAD:
Aditya Tare (Capt.), Abhishek Nayar, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Sufian Shaikh, Shardul Thakur, Nikhil Patil, Akhil Herwadkar, Shrideep Mangela, Wilkin Mota, Tushar Deshpande, Ak shay Girap, Harmeet Singh and Balwinder Singh Sandhu Jr.
Feels abnormal to be playing against TN: Badrinath
Come February 16, and life will come a full circle for S Badrinath, whose side Vidarbha will lock horns with his former team Tamil Nadu in the Ranji knockouts.
Badri, who came back late on Monday night for a couple of days break, was looking forward to the knockout clash."I knew there would come a time when I will have to face Tamil Nadu once the shift to Vidarbha was made last year. It will definitely be abnormal for me," said Badri, while speaking to TOI.
But the domestic batting stalwart felt once he stepped on the field, it would be business as usual. "Being a professional cricketer, I will strive to give my best for the side. Nothing less than that."