Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session on the eve of the Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh in Hyderabad on Sunday. (PTI)

Hyderabad: Strengthened by the return of top stars Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, Mumbai would look to pocket their record 38th title when they take on Uttar Pradesh in the final of Ranji Trophy here from Monday.

The two sides made it to the summit clash of the top domestic tournament in contrasting styles. Uttar Pradesh have just one outright win from nine matches to their credit while Mumbai have had a smooth sailing en route to the final, winning six out of nine matches.

Unbeaten all season, Mumbai will begin firm favourites at the Rajiv Gandhi Intenational Stadium with the presence of Tendulkar and Zaheer.

The presence of Tendulkar is sure to send shivers down the spine of any player at the domestic level and it is bad news for Uttar Pradesh that the maestro is in fine form. His spectacular hundred in the semi-final against Saurashtra in Chennai showed that he has not lost his appetite for runs.

Zaheer’s return to the star-studded team would also worry Uttar Pradesh as the 30-year-old left-arm pacer has become one of the most lethal exponents of conventional and reverse swing.

Before the return of Tendulkar, the Mumbai batting used to revolve around captain Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom having scored more than 1000 runs this season. Jaffer, in his first season as captain, has been in great form with four centuries from nine matches, including a double and a triple century.

Jaffer’s triple century in the semi-final, which earned praise from Tendulkar, has made him the top-scorer (1174 runs) this season, and he would be looking to impress the national selectors with India’s tour of New Zealand not far off.

Young Rahane missed out on a central contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India but would want to cap a fabulous season with a Ranji title. He has already become the second highest run-getter this season behind Jaffer with 1061 runs, including four centuries and a double hundred.

Zaheer’s inclusion would add extra firepower to the Mumbai attack that was earlier led by hardened campaigner Ramesh Powar and rookie Dhawal Kulkarni, not to speak of old warhorse Ajit Agarkar.

Kulkarni, in his first Ranji season, has been a top-class performer with 37 wickets so far, while Powar has nailed 31 victims to play a big role in his side’s progress to the final.

Uttar Pradesh, who made it to the final by virtue of their first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu in the semi-final, lack consistency. Playing their third final in four years, Uttar Pradesh will have to play out of their skin and hope captain Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina and Praveen Kumar come out firing on all cylinders if they want to lift their second title.

They would hope their batting quartet of Shivkant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava, Kaif and Raina fire in unison and their young bowling attack of Bhuvaneswar Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Praveen come up with some extraordinary stuff to unsettle the formidable Mumbai batting line-up.

Praveen and allrounder Parvinder Singh’s batting would also be important. The duo have rescued their side in a couple of matches.

Teams

Mumbai (from): Wasim Jaffer (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Amol Muzumdar, Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Nayar, Vinayak Samant, Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Ankeet Chavan, Sahil Kukreja, Usman Malvi, Vinayak Mane, Rohan Raje, Hiken Shah, Murtuza Hussain.

Uttar Pradesh (from): Mohammed Kaif (captain), Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava, Suresh Raina, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Sudeep Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amir Khan, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Gupta, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Singh, Ravikant Shukla, Ashish Yadav, Prashant Gupta, Tahir Abbas, Anshul Kapoor. (PTI)