Onus on Mumbai to fire against Gujarat in Ranji tie
MUMBAI: It maybe just two games into the season but Mumbai will have to up the ante if they are to harbour any hopes of making it to the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy competition. On Wednesday, when Mumbai play their first home match of 2018-19 edition against Gujarat at the Wankhede Stadium, the former champions will look to put to bed many questions that have arisen thanks to their inability to come up with a performances worthy of their name.
From being stable at the top of the order to showing application to spinners coming good, Mumbai will hope to plug all the loopholes before it is too late.
While lesser experience players like right-arm seamer Tushar Deshpande and all-rounder Shivam Dube have shown the spark, they are only a few examples Mumbai can boast about.
The problem starts at the top with Jay Bista and Akhil Herwadkar unable to provide a solid foundation. While Herwadkar hasn’t looked as assured as he did in past seasons, Bista has got starts but hasn’t converted them into something substantial.
Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Aditya Tare have been the backbone of Mumbai’s batting in recent times but they haven’t clicked yet this season. While all three had decent scores against their name in the opening match against Railways, they didn’t fare well against Karnataka when it mattered.
Mumbai skipper Dhawal Kulkarni isn’t concerned though.
“I have had a word with the guys. They are senior players and it’s their responsibility to take their game one step up. Everybody commits mistakes and this is the right time to rectify it,” said Kulkarni after Mumbai’s practice session on Tuesday.
It won’t be as easy as it was in the past for Mumbai against Gujarat, who have improved a lot in last few seasons. The last time these two teams crossed paths was in the 2016-17 Ranji final with Gujarat recording an outright win thanks to Parthiv Patel’s knock of 143 in the second innings. The same season, they also met in the group stage with Gujarat winning on first innings lead.
This season as well Gujarat have started off well, sitting third in the standings with 10 points after three games.
Skipper Priyank Panchal sounded confident of standing up to Mumbai. “Looking at the current scenarios we (both teams) stand at same stage. Obviously, it will be a good challenge and good contest,” said Panchal, who is enjoying another fruitful outing with the bat and has already scored 397 runs which included two centuries in the second innings.
Gujarat looks like a well-disciplined unit with the likes of middle-order batsmen Manprit Juneja and Bhargav Merai chipping in with useful knocks while wicketkeeper Dhruv Raval, who came in place of Parthiv Patel, has impressed both behind the wickets and with the bat.
For Mumbai, Armaan Jaffer is expected to play at No 3 with skipper Kulkarni hoping that he will bring his under-23 form to the senior side. Couple of weeks ago, the 20-year-old hit a triple century during a Col CK Nayudu Trophy match against Saurashtra.