From Sarfaraz Khan to Rajat Patidar: Players to watch out for in Mumbai vs MP Ranji Trophy 2022 final

After 64 matches, a season divided into two halves, it has come down to two teams, one a 41-time champion and the second, a team qualifying for their first final in 23 years in the summit clash of the 2022 edition of the Ranji Trophy.

Mumbai led by Prithvi Shaw have bulldozed their way into the final of the domestic competition following an outreageous, record-breaking 725-run win against Uttarakhand in the quarter-finals while frustrating Uttar Pradesh in the semis after batting close to 300 overs. This will be Mumbai's 47th final in the Ranji Trophy and the way they have played look like winning it for the 42nd time, but this was a similar case in 2016-17 as well, however, everyone knows what happened. Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat swept the final from under Mumbai's nose to hand them their first runner's up finish.

On the other hand, there's Aditya Shrivastava-led Madhya Pradesh, in their first final in 23 years, a team that has scraped through till every ball, every session and emerged winners in hard-fought games. The challenger for MP will be keep the Mumbai batting line-up quiet and hope that their bowlers come to the party for one last time, for the trophy that matters the most.

While Shaw, Yashasvi Jaiswal starred for Mumbai with the bat in the semis and opening batter Himanshu Mantri was the star of the show in the first innings for MP, here's a look at the in-form players, who could turn the game in their respective side's favour:

The more said about Sarfaraz Khan, less it will be. The young Mumbai batter had a career-defining season in the Ranji Trophy. Sarfaraz has had some outrageous numbers against his name - an average of 133, three 150+ scores, over 800 runs. It felt like Sarfaraz had a bad game in the semis because he didn't get to the three-figure mark despite returning scores of 40 and 59*. The 24-year-old will again be key to Mumbai's batting in the final.

With innings of 85 in the quarters and 79 in the semis, Rajat Patidar may not be the highest contributor for MP in the knockouts, however, he has the most number of runs for a batter in his side in the competition and the Shrivastava-led side will depend on Patidar again, who made everyone sit up and take notice with probably the best innings in the IPL by an uncapped player, that too in an eliminator.

With 506 runs in 5 matches, Patidar averages 72 and will be hoping to get one more big score, this time the most decisively.

Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya made headlines during the IPL as, the moment he came into the Mumbai Indians squad as a replacement player, he was drafted into the playing XI straightaway. With the deliveries turning both ways, Kartikeya made the batters think before going for a shot but this was his time in the sun as he has been one of the most consistent bowlers for MP this year.

In the semi-final, however, came his most definitive performance of the season. Kartikeya followed his three-fer in the first innings with a match-winning five-wicket haul which included the big wickets of Abhishek Raman, skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, and first-innings centurion Manoj Tiwary among others. Kartikeya has 27 wickets to his name in 5 matches and is in second place on the leading wicket-takers list behind Mumbai's Shams Mulani.