'The balance has been missing' - Jaffer
The Mumbai side that will face Madhya Pradesh is almost unrecognisable from the team that played Rajasthan last year, due to injuries and unavailability of players
Abhishek Purohit in Indore
01-Jan-2012
Multiple champions in an away knockout game against underdogs with nothing
to lose and everything to gain. Mumbai have been in this situation before.
Eventual winners Rajasthan knocked them out of the Ranji Trophy last
season in the quarter-final in Jaipur, their new-ball pair of Pankaj Singh
and Deepak Chahar utilising the opening session to run through a line-up
that included Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Abhishek
Nayar.
The stage has shifted to Indore this season but an in-form new-ball duo,
TP Sudhindra and Ishwar Pandey, again awaits Mumbai in another
quarter-final on a pitch expected to aid the quicks in the first session.
This is where the similarities end.
The Mumbai side that will face Madhya Pradesh is almost unrecognisable from the team that played Rajasthan.
Rahane and Rohit are in Australia on national duty. Nayar has lost his
latest battle with injuries and has been withdrawn from the squad. Ajit
Agarkar is still miffed after being dropped against Orissa; the man he was
dropped for, Aavishkar Salvi, got injured during Mumbai's previous game
against Punjab. To top it all, wicketkeeper-batsman Sushant Marathe
injured his groin while diving to collect a delivery in the Punjab match.
Mumbai have been used to the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan
but missing so many first-choice players is almost like playing with a
second XI.
Jaffer, the captain, said that all the injuries had played
havoc with the balance of the team. "It has troubled the composition of
the team. We could have played Nayar as the third seamer and Marathe as
the opening batsman. The balance has been missing."
But you don't win the Ranji Trophy 39 times if you don't have the
resilience to fight adversity. After Salvi and Marathe pulled out on the
first day, a nine-man Mumbai demolished Punjab by nine wickets. Jaffer said
Mumbai would have to make the most of what they have got in terms of
resources. "I think we have still got good quality in the team," Jaffer
said. "Whatever newcomers we have got, they have done well. Onkar Gurav
[Marathe's replacement] has played before. This is not his first game. So
at least temperament-wise he won't be struggling."
With the batting as well as the pace bowling thin on experience, Mumbai
could even go in with three spinning allrounders in Ramesh Powar, Ankeet
Chavan and Iqbal Abdulla, leaving one of Balwinder Sandhu or Kshemal
Waingankar to partner Dhawal Kulkarni with the new ball.
The pitch, which had a fair sprinkling of grass today over a slightly
dry-looking surface, was a matter of keen interest for the Mumbai camp
with several of their players inspecting it along with coach Sulakshan
Kulkarni. Jaffer said that was because Mumbai needed to be sure what they
would do if they won the toss. "The pitch could still end up looking
completely different in the morning. It should help the seamers in the
first session and then it will probably ease out to become
batsman-friendly."
Jaffer was mindful of the threat posed by Sudhindra and Pandey - who have
57 wickets between them this season - but said that the MP attack held
little danger otherwise. "Apart from those two, not many have taken
wickets for them. If we negate them, we will be in a good position. It's a
knockout game and will probably go on the first innings."
If Mumbai bat first tomorrow, Jaffer will hope that it is not decided by the first
session again.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo