Maximum city? Not in Ranji Trophy

Seven matches, three outright wins, four draws, 25 points and a position atop Group A — Mumbai couldn’t have hoped for a better outing in the league stages of the Ranji Trophy this season. They were expected to see off Madhya Pradesh in the quarterfinals and they did so with relative ease. However, a first-innings thrashing at the hands of Tamil Nadu in the semifinals has come as a wake-up call. A rude one, but it’s come at the right time.

Yes, as many as six of the 22 members of the squad were playing their first full season; Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma featured in just one and three games respectively and Ajit Agarkar, the seniormost player in the squad, missed the second half of the season due to ‘non-cricketing’ reasons. Even then, a semifinal finish is not justified.

It’s time the powers-that-be (read Mumbai Cricket Association) stopped basking in the glory of a last-four finish. Let the Haryana Cricket Association do that. Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy 39 times, but the sad part is that they’ve announced it 39,000 times! The fact is that Mumbai cricket is ‘ailing’ and it needs to be administered the right kind of ‘medicines’ before it’s too late. Forget Ranji Trophy, Mumbai haven’t won a single age-group tournament this year. What’s more, the one-time nursery of Indian cricket hasn’t produced a Test player since 2004. No, the alarm bells haven’t started ringing, but then who takes a life insurance policy hoping to die?

Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar believes the administrators are not doing anything worthwhile. “They must be held accountable. Mumbai is losing its maidan culture. There is no planning whatsoever. We don’t send our youngsters on overseas tours. The other associations are doing it and reaping the benefits,” he says.

The veteran of 116 Tests, who unsuccessfully contested the elections for the post of MCA president against Vilasrao Deshmukh, went on to say that Mumbai are no longer a superpower. “In those days, they used to say that if Mumbai cricket is in good health, then so is Indian cricket. That statement doesn’t hold true today. What’s happening with the indoor academy at BKC? It’s practically shut. There should be a public debate on the functioning of the association. The voters must realise what they’ve done. Only one Test cricketer (Chandrakant Pandit) is part of the managing committee. No other official or office bearer has even played the game!” he fumes.

But then Pandit, who heads the all-important Cricket Improvement Committee, is on his way to Jaipur to head the RCA Academy.

He has reportedly signed a three-year deal worth Rs1.3 crore with the Rajasthan Cricket Association. If money was his priority, then why did he contest the elections? And would he give up his CIC post?

Mumbai seemed to be heading in the right direction after last year’s quarterfinal loss at the hands of eventual champs Rajasthan. They got a new coach, Sulakshan Kulkarni. Milind Rege replaced Padmakar Shivalkar as the chief selector. The new committee showed the courage to blood youngsters such as Suryakumar Yadav, Kaustubh Pawar, Nikhil Patil Jr, Balwinder SIngh Sandhu Jr, Ankeet Chavan and Akhil Herwadkar to name a few.

The fact is that everything was hunky-dory till Ajit Agarkar stormed out of the team hotel in Cuttack once he learnt about his exclusion for the match against Orissa. Yes, the vice-captain’s decision was by no means appropriate, but the team management should have treated a player of his stature with respect. Agarkar claims he did the right thing by catching the next flight home because he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere of the dressing room. Fair enough.

Zaheer Khan, who was playing his first competitive match after the disastrous tour of England, also came to the aid of his buddy. The Indian pace spearhead blasted the likes of Kulkarni and Rege, saying they were “pulling Mumbai cricket backwards”. Why did the MCA not take any action against Zaheer? He was showcaused and subsequently let off with a warning. Does that imply that the parent body agrees with Zaheer? Who knows!

Agarkar’s biggest regret, however, is that Jaffer hasn’t spoken to him even once after the entire episode. The pacer has openly told his friends that he would have made himself available had the skipper offered a handshake. Agarkar is also miffed with the team management which claims that he was “blocking” the place of other pacers. The fact is that Mumbai clearly missed Agarkar’s experience in the semifinals. But then again, no one would agree.

Agarkar or no Agarkar, the Mumbai dressing room continues to be a squabble zone. Believe it or not, but two very senior players aren’t on talking terms for the last two months. “Two months? Are you kidding me? Two years would be more apt,” says another senior member of the side. Odd, but true.

Wasim Jaffer, the batsman, hasn’t been among the big runs this season. The stylish right-hander has scored around 400 runs, inclusive of three fifties and a century. But the operative part is that two of those half centuries came in the second innings. The hundred, though, helped Mumbai avoid an outright loss against Saurashtra. It’s again an open secret that Jaffer was handed the captaincy for this season on the ‘condition’ that he’d open the innings. He did as ‘advised’ in the first three games, but pushed himself down to No 3, No 4 and even No 5 in subsequent matches. Mumbai have actually tried out seven opening combinations in nine encounters! Yes, Mumbai did miss the services of the injured Sushant Marathe who played just three games, but it’s high time the team management realised that wicketkeeper Onkar Gurav is not an opener. He seldom opens for his employers, Air India, or his club, Shivaji Park Gymkhana.

Former Mumbai coach Pravin Amre thinks the team needs to find a solution at the earliest. “We need to have good openers. But where are the new spinners? That is the missing link,” Amre says.

Shivalkar, a former chief selector, says Mumbai have enough talent. “Go and you’ll find them at the maidans. But then, you need to spot them and create a huge pool. We should not be afraid of giving youngsters an opportunity. I don’t know why Harmeet Singh is not being played. He is a good left-arm spinner,” he says. Well, Harmeet Singh is captaining the Mumbai U-19 side. The lad had picked up 12 wickets in two Ranji Trophy games a couple of seasons ago and hasn’t been given a chance since. Last year, he approached the MCA for a no-objection certificate as Haryana were interested in him. But the MCA very conveniently rejected his request.

MCA joint-secretary Nitin Dalal is happy with the team’s showing.

“We have reached the semifinals with a young team. Our youngsters have delivered. However, it’s unfortunate that we’ve lost to Tamil Nadu. We could not capitalise after reducing them to 139 for six and we didn’t bat well in this game. Next year, we will be ready,” he says. Hopefully!