Mumbai got a major boost with star players Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan joining the squad for the Ranji Trophy semi-final match against West Zone rivals Saurashtra to be played in Chennai from January 4 to 7.
This is the first match this season that the two India stalwarts will play for Mumbai, who would be led by former Test opener Wasim Jaffer.
Tendulkar and Zaheer have replaced Praful Waghela and Rahil Shaikh in the squad that beat Himachal Pradesh by nine wickets at Ahmedabad in the quarter-final tie which ended on Monday.
The other change in the 37-time national champions' team is left-arm spinner Ankit Chavan for another left-arm slow bowler Iqbal Abdulla, according to Mumbai Cricket Association's joint secretary Hemant Waingankar.
Saurashtra outplayed Karnataka by five wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday in another quarter-final tie.
Saurashtra had taken the first innings points against Mumbai when the two teams met earlier in the season at Rajkot in their Group 'A' Elite Division contest.
The other semi-final between Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh would be held at Nagpur on the same dates.
Mumbai squad: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Amol Muzumdar, Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Vinayak Samant (w/k), Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Usman Malvi and Ankit Chavan. Coach: Pravin Amre.
