We were a bit arrogant, complacent: Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer

Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer tells DNA that his team paid the price for taking Plate Division-team Rajasthan lightly in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. Excerpts:

How shocking it is to be knocked out by minnows Rajasthan in the quarters?
It is very shocking indeed when I look back. We were a bit complacent and arrogant too. The conditions were suitable for the seamers on Day One and I think fielding first would have been right. But there are no ifs and buts. We have always batted first whenever we won the toss and by staying positive we would put up a big score. We wouldn’t field unless it is really green. We had recovered from tough situations before, but this time we couldn’t. Even in Mysore last year, we batted first.

Rajasthan opener Akash Chopra wrote in his column that David got the better of Goliath and Mumbai were arrogant, complacent and flamboyant in their approach…
Even in our meetings we never took Rajasthan lightly. They are professional players and have come up the hard way. In fact they were on par with some of the Elite Division teams. But we never expected that this would happen. However, it is a compliment that Akash sees us as Goliath. But I would admit that we did not bat well and 250 certainly was not enough.

Being the powerhouse of domestic cricket with 39 titles in the kitty, where do you think Mumbai should finish every year?
Every year our aim is win the title, nothing less than that. It is disappointing to be out of the tournament so early. We were really confident from the staff to the team management. But when you are playing the knock out stage you have to deal with one bad session or bad day. However, we could not overcome that this time.

You along with Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma were the leading scorers in the league. But the inconsistency could still be seen?
You could see that throughout the tournament, runs were scored but then they were not converted into big scores. Against Railways, Rahane scored 94 but he did not see the team through and the rest of them had to rescue. In this match too, he and Nayar scored 60 but they could not get a big score which would have helped us. The lack of finish was one of the reasons.

Despite so many rotations this season, Mumbai could not find a perfect combination. Do you agree that Mumbai lacks benchstrength?
Yeah, we lack on that front. We don’t have suitable fast bowlers who could replace Dhawal (Kulkarni), Ajit (Agarkar) or Aavishkar (Salvi) when they are injured. We also need to have a back-up of good spinners. Batting is another area where we need benchstrength. Players have come but none of them have impressed in the given opportunity. You have to at least score a 100 or a double to cement your place instead of 30s or 50s.