Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: TN face Rajasthan, Punjab vs Baroda in semis

Ahmedabad, Jan 28 : With the Indian Premier League (IPL) players’ auction up next month, quite a few players will look to showcase their performances when the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 semi-finals take place at the Motera Stadium on Friday.
Tamil Nadu will face Rajasthan in the first semi-final while Punjab will play Baroda in the second semi-final later in the day.
The likes of Vishnu Solanki (Baroda) and Shahrukh Khan (Tamil Nadu), who have not got any IPL contract, proved their power-hitting in the quarter-finals scoring quickfire knocks to help their teams win. Also on show will be Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan and Punjab’s Prabhsimran Singh and a handful of others who have IPL contracts but did not get too many much of opportunities last season.
Rajasthan are missing leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who has been their top wicket-taker in the tournament, but has been called up to India nets in Chennai. Chahar missed the quarter-finals as well. In his absence, Rajasthan will bank on Ravi Bishnoi, Khaleel Ahmed and Aniket Choudhary to stop Tamil Nadu’s batting that has N Jagadeesan, Baba Aparajith and Shahrukh Khan.
In the second semi-final, Punjab’s bowling attack comprising seasoned campaigners Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh will pose a stiff challenge to Baroda batting.
Every time Baroda have batted first in the tournament, they have managed to put up a 150-plus run total.