2017-18 Ranji Trophy Semifinal Preview: Shami, Saha boost for Bengal; Umesh Yadav returns for Vidarbha

The Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) decision to release national players for the marquee clashes of the Ranji Trophy will undoubtedly add an interesting aspect to the semifinals that will commence from the 17th of December 2017 at Pune and Kolkata.

The BCCI decided to allow the Test match specialists to feature in the semifinals which will undoubtedly give them some game time ahead of India's gruelling Test series in South Africa early next year.

Karnataka, led by Vinay Kumar, will clash horns against the Faiz Fazal-led Vidarbha in Kolkata, while multiple champions Delhi will square off against Bengal in Pune.

Here is an overview of the big semi-finals lined up which will be played between 17-21 December 2017.

Karnataka vs Vidarbha at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Mayank Agarwal will hope to continue his rich vein of form against Vidharbha (PC: TOI)

Under the tutelage of skipper Vinay Kumar, Karnataka have done well to put up an all-round show that has brought them to the semi-finals. Opener Mayank Agarwal's show(1142 runs from 11 games) has only compounded bowlers' misery, and Agarwal has been duly backed up by Ravikumar Samarth, who has 643 runs from 11 games.

However, the opening duo will have to be wary of the threat posed by seamer Umesh Yadav, who will be back in the Vidarbha ranks for the semi-finals.

Umesh Yadav had a good outing against Sri Lanka, spitting venom with the new ball; he will be a great addition to Vidarbha, led by the effervescent Faiz Fazal, who is second on the top run-getters with 831 runs from ten games, while fellow opener Sanjay Ramaswamy has amassed 696 runs from the same number of games.

While the clash could be billed as a battle of the openers, a lot of emphasis needs to be laid on the Karnataka bowlers, who have complemented each other. Skipper Vinay Kumar (22 wickets) will be fresh off his hat-trick performance against Mumbai in the quarters while spin-twins Krishnappa Gowtham (34 wickets) and Shreyas Gopal (21 wickets) will look to apply brakes on the Vidharbha batsmen.

Vidharbha, aided by the return of senior statesman Umesh Yadav will look to him for early breakthroughs and hope spinners Akshay Wakhare (29 wickets) and Aditya Sarwate (25 wickets) have a good outing against a strong Karnataka batting line-up.

Delhi vs Bengal, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

Shami and Saha's return will certainly bolster Bengal's chances against Delhi

Bengal will be given a shot in the arm with the return of bigwigs Mohammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha, while Delhi will have to deal with the absence of pacer Ishant Sharma, who will be missing out on the semi-finals with an ankle injury.

Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary, who has not had the best of seasons with 417 runs from 12 games, will be upbeat with the form of his batsmen who have all contributed to Bengal's success this season.

Writtick Chatterjee made the most of the opportunity given to him and scored a double hundred, while comeback man Anustup Majumdar has 526 runs from just 7 games apart from the start - that has been phenomenally led by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran.

With the seething pace and bounce of Shami and patient strokeplay from Saha back in the mix, Bengal's threat will be looming large over Delhi but the onus will fall on India discard Gautam Gambhir to lead his team from the front. The opener has done well so far and has scored 505 runs from 9 games in the company of Nitish Rana, who has two hundreds and an equal number of fifties to lead the run scorers' chart for Delhi.

In the absence of seasoned pacer Ishant Sharma, the new ball will be shared by Navdeep Saini (22 wickets) and Vikas Tokas on a seamer-friendly track at the MCA while Manan Sharma (23 wickets) and Vikas Mishra (31 wickets), both of whom shared twelve wickets in the quarters, will be a vital component of Delhi's spin attack.