Mumbai vs Sikkim, Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023-24, Today Match Prediction 23 November 2023

mum vs skm Match Prediction & Analysis

The Vijay Hazare Trophy is back for its new season. India’s premier 50-over competition is the best place to check out the next generation of India’s ODI stars. Mumbai is always one of the strongest teams in the domestic circuits. They will start their season with a match against Sikkim at the KSCA Cricket (2) Ground in Alur. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Mumbai Preview

Last season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mumbai finished second in the Group E table with four wins in six games. However, they will be missing the services of Yashasvi Jaiswal this year, who topped the batting charts in the previous edition.

Fortunately, they will have the experienced Ajinkya Rahane to guide them again. Rahane is in good touch too, having collected 263 runs in his last 7 matches at an average of 65.75. He will undoubtedly be the pillar of this batting unit.

Shams Mulani (202 runs in the last 10 matches at an average of 33.67) is another batter worth backing to do well here. 

Sarfaraz Khan lacks consistency in this format, but if he gets going, he can get big scores.

Right-arm fast bowler Mohit Avasthi will again be leading this bowling unit. He was their best bowler last season, taking 7 wickets in 6 innings at 37.57. Bowling all-rounder Tanush Kotian’s off-spin can make a big difference in the middle overs.

Mumbai Predicted Playing XI:

Ajinkya Rahane (c), Atharva Ankolekar, Sarfaraz Khan, Suved Parkar, Hardik Tamore (wk), Saksham Jha, Shams Mulani, Mohit Avasthi, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Royston Dias

Sikkim Preview

Sikkim finished last in the Group B table last year. They lost all their seven matches and clearly have their task cut out this season as they take on the mighty Mumbai. 

Ashish Thapa is expected to lead the side again, although Sikkim haven’t announced their captain for the season yet.

All-rounder Sumit Singh’s batting performance was the only saving grace for Sikkim last year. The right-handed batter collected 188 runs in 7 innings at an average of 26.85.No other batter managed to cross even 100 runs. He also topped the bowling charts for the team, taking 11 wickets at an average of 24.72.

However, the team will also look at Palzor Tamang, who has had a good run of late, smashing 150 runs in his last 10 matches. The bowling all-rounder has also picked up 8 wickets in that time.

Sikkim Predicted Playing XI:

Pankaj Rawat, Sumit Singh, Nilesh Lamichaney, Ashish Thapa (c), Palzor Tamang, Bhim Luitel, Ankur Malik, Arun Chettri (wk), Lee Yong Lepcha, Md Saptulla, Bijay Prasad

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

This is largely a typical Indian surface, which is good for batting for the most part. It doesn’t offer much bounce, but offers decent turn for the spinners. It tends to get better for batting later on.

The weather will be nice and pleasant.

Venue Details

The average first innings score at the KSCA Cricket (2) Ground in Alur is 276 over the last eight matches. The highest total posted here in this period is 397-8 by Haryana against Arunachal Pradesh last year. A score of around 290-300 should be par here.

Toss: To Bowl

Seven of the last eight matches at the KSCA Cricket (2) Ground in Alur have been won by the chasing team. It goes without saying that the toss-winning team is likely to field first here.