Buoyant Mumbai face struggling MP

The last time Mumbai players were at the Wankhede Stadium, they were in a miserable frame of mind. They had lost their Ranji Trophy season-opener to Jammu & Kashmir, who were promoted from the lowest rung of the tournament. It took a pep talk from Sachin Tendulkar to cheer them up before they left the Wankhede dressing room on what was expected to be an arduous journey of three successive away matches.

There was no Tendulkar at the Wankhede on Sunday, but the mood in the camp was the complete opposite of what it had been four weeks ago. In wake of a convincing outright victory against Uttar Pradesh and first-innings' points against Bengal, Mumbai appeared to be a cheerful lot ahead of their Group A match against Devendra Bundela's Madhya Pradesh.

Mumbai not only struggled on the field in their first two matches this season, but they also didn't get their team balance right. They have used 20 players in their first four games, with only five players featuring in all matches. Only in the last game, in Kolkata, with Aditya Tare and rookie Shreyas Iyer having been promoted to top of the order, did the batting line-up appear solid.

Just as Mumbai were starting to get a settled combination in place, though, they have been struck with a second major injury blow, with Abhishek Nayar having been ruled out of the match having fractured his toe in the game against Bengal. With veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer still recovering from a fractured finger, Nayar was the most experienced campaigner in Mumbai's developing side.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav could only hope that Nayar's absence will not work against his team. "I have already missed one [Jaffer] and now I will miss Abhishek Nayar," Suryakumar said. "He is the best character on and off the field. Takes the morale high on the field and in the dressing room. But it is part of the game. Someone has to fill in his shoes, so we will see who takes up his job."

Mumbai had another injury scare with Siddhesh Lad having injured a finger. However, he - who surprisingly didn't feature in the team for the first three games of the season and scored 64 in Kolkata - was passed fit for the match.

Madhya Pradesh have also been trying to cope with injury problems. Their pace spearhead, Ishwar Pandey, has been virtually ruled out of the season after having hurt his knee in their match against Uttar Pradesh. With an otherwise inexperienced bowling attack, the onus will be on Naman Ojha to lead the batting charge and help MP pose a challenge.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ojha spent four weeks in Australia at the start of India's ongoing tour, being Wriddhiman Saha's back-up. Back at the Ranji Trophy, he made his presence felt when he combined with his captain Bundela to help MP salvage a draw against Tamil Nadu.

MP have also struggled with their team combination and are thus down at No 8 in the Group A standings, with just five points from four games. If they have to improve on their performance, they will be hoping for Ojha and Bundela to come good against an in-form Shardul Thakur, the Mumbai pace spearhead, who currently tops the wicket-takers' list with 23 wickets at 16.65.