Mumbai's Middle Order Dilemma: Suryakumar, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube at No 8, 9 and 10 - Saved by Ashwin's India Replacement

Mumbai's unorthodox tactic almost came back to haunt them on Monday during their chase against Hyderabad in Ahmedabad in the second round of Vijay Hazare Trophy when the Shreyas Iyer-led team decided to reverse their batting order. The risky move initially faltered before Iyer and Tanush Kotian joined forces to successfully chase down the target and secure a hard-fought three-wicket victory.

On the Sardar Patel Stadium B ground, where the bowlers dictated the terms, Mumbai took the lesser travelled road, despite having headed into the match following a loss against Karnataka in their tournament opener. Hence, their top 7 were: Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ayush Mhatre, Hardik Tamore, Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar, Shardul Thakur and Kotian.

The plan failed to work as Mumbai were reduced to 67 for six in the 13th over, where the new middle-order line-up managed just 11 runs between themselves, including two dismissals for duck.

How Ashwin's India replacement helped Mumbai escape another loss

Following the dismissal of Shardul Thakur for a duck, Suryakumar Yadav walked it at No. 8, with still Iyer (9) and Shivam Dube (10) awaiting their chances. Kotian, who earlier in the day replaced Ashwin in the Indian Test squad for the final two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, stitched a 38-run stand with the Indian T20I captain, before Iyer jumped to Mumbai's rescue.

The Mumbai captain smashed four boundaries and three sixes in his unbeaten 20-ball 44, while forging a 70-run stand with Kotian to help Mumbai wrap up the chase in 25.2 overs. The 26-year-old all-rounder scored39 off 37, laced with six boundaries.

Mumbai will play their next match against Arunachal Pradesh at the Gujarat College Ground in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Brief score: Hyderabad 169 in 38.1 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 64, Aravelly Avinash 52; Atharva Ankolekar 4/55, Tanush Kotian 2/38, Ayush Mhatre 3/17) lost to Mumbai 175/7 in 25.2 overs (Tanush Kotian 39*, Shreyas Iyer 44*; Saranu Nishanth 3/42, Mohammad Muddasir 2/55) by 3 wickets.

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