Mumbai had to struggle in their last five outings against Karnataka and Suryakumar accepted this. "I think it's the brand of cricket they have been playing in the last three years. This year too they have won two championships [Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy]. Now, coming into the Ranji Trophy, they have done well. Karnataka are always a strong opponent and I think it will be a good game."

Karun Nair

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The hosts had a long net session on Thursday. However, they are yet to finalise Prithvi Shaw's opening partner for this crucial tie. Shaw, (who scored 66 and 202) and Jay Bista (18 and 68), opened the innings against Baroda, which Mumbai won by 309 runs. But, the Shaw-Bista combination failed to fire against Railways as the former India U-19 skipper managed just 12 and 23, while Bista scored 21 and 13. With Sarfaraz Khan replacing Bista in the 15-member squad for today's game, the team management may ask vice-captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare to counter the new ball with Shaw.

"Haven't actually thought about the opening combination," is what Mumbai captain said when asked about the team's new opening combination. Mumbai will bank on their experienced campaigner and India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a half-century (79) against Baroda apart from three single digit knocks from the last three innings. Rahane on Thursday had a good net session under the watchful eyes of his coach Pravin Amre.

Pacer Tushar Deshpande and Akash Parkar may lead the bowling attack with left-arm spinner Shams Mulani to follow. The hosts may opt to include offie Shashank Attarde in the playing XI taking into consideration Karnataka's in-form player left-hander Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 99 and 74 in his last two games against Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively.

Mumbai skipper Suryakumar Yadav at MCA-BKC ground

While Mumbai will be without the services of their India players Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube, Karnataka are without their star opener Mayank Agarwal, who opted for rest before joining the India 'A' squad for the New Zealand tour next week.

Karnataka skipper Karun Nair said: "For me, it is about playing each game at a time and trying to contribute as much as I can to try and win games for Karnataka. And that is what I am trying to do this season. I am looking forward to try and contribute more with the bat and as captain, so that we can go on and win games. We all are looking to win the Ranji Trophy, that's our ultimate goal."

Over to BKC.

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