SPL vs ARCA Team Previews

Shivaji Park Lions

The Shivaji Park Lions were the runners-up in the inaugural edition of T20 Mumbai and will be keen on getting their hands across the title in this match. The Shivaji park Lions are one of the few teams that have not opted to focus too much on retaining their side from last year.

They have identified their top-performers and managed to retain them while also adding some good names in the auction. Overall, we think they have put together a good set of players that can definitely challenge for the title once again.

The two biggest names in the side are Siddhesh Lad and Shivam Dube. Lad is known as the player that stands up for the Mumbai Ranji team when everyone else seems to be failing. He has a lot of first-class experience and will be keen to show that T20 cricket is right up his alley as well.

Shivam Dube was the man of the tournament in T20 Mumbai last year and that helped him be one of the most expensive buys of the IPL. His season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore did not go as per plan but we have no doubt that he is going to be better after that experience.

With the presence of Raunaq Sharma, Tanush Kotian, and Shivam Dube in the squad and possible in the playing eleven, the Shivaji Park Lions have a lot of flexibility in their side. All three of these players can contribute I both aspects of the game reliably.

Hardik Tamore seems to be the likely player to take care of the wicketkeeping duties while the bowling will be led by Shivam Malhotra and Vijay Gohil.

ARCS Andheri

The ARCS Andheri managed to pull off a nail-biting win against the NaMo Blasters and will be buoyed by that experience. Having watched that entire match, we don’t feel too optimistic about their chances even after that performance, though.

There were a lot of little things that went their way in that match and in most cases, the ARCS Andheri side would have ended up the losers.

Still, the performance was a huge step-up from their opening match. The biggest difference in their improved performance was the bowling. Tushar Deshpande and Vineet Sinha started well with the new ball.

ARCS abandoned the idea of giving Iqbal Abdulla the new ball and he also did much better in the middle overs. There was more discipline in the entire bowling attack and even though Sujit Nayak came and scored a quickfire fifty for the Blasters, the ARCS would have been happy with their effort.

The batting is where we think the ARCS Andheri side is losing out to the other teams. Akhil Herwadkar played very well for his 56, however, there was a noticeable slowdown in his inning as he grew tired. Kevin Almeida looked all at sea during his stay of 17 runs from ten balls. His strike rate was impressive but it was always just a matter of time before he threw away his wicket.

Shubham Ranjane was the one class player we saw and think he could shine in the upcoming match as well. Runs for Gaurav Jathar and Azhar Ansari came from a number of outside and inside edges. We think the scorecard seems much more flattering for the ARCS Andheri than their performance deserved.

The big advantage that they have against the Shivaji Park Lions is having played a couple of matches together and finding some sort of team balance. Leveraging that into a win might be a bit difficult, though.