Cricket: Season of hope for Team India

Prashant Naik, Suryakumar Yadav, Kaustubh Pawar and Nikhil Patil Jr have a combined first-class experience of 14 matches. What’s the big deal, you’d wonder. But how would you react when informed that these 21-year-olds form the middle-order of a team called Mumbai?

When Wasim Jaffer & Co step on to the quaint ground in the Capital’s Paharganj area for their Ranji Trophy opener on Thursday, they won’t be expected to evoke fear in the opposition ranks. The Karnail Singh Stadium is home to Railways who won the last of their two Ranji titles in 2005. On the contrary, Mumbai have captured Indian cricket’s most prestigious silverware a staggering 39 times, their latest victory coming in the season before last. But is this side good enough to win Trophy No 40?

Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar, an out-and-out khadoos cricketer (in his own words) is unflappable as ever.

“When the Indian team is blooding youngsters, then why shouldn’t Mumbai?” he asks. “During my time, there used to be five to six Mumbai players in the Indian team. That’s not the case now. But with the kind of talent we have, that day is not far,” he adds.

Former Mumbai coach Pravin Amre is equally confident. “Surya, Nikhil and Kaustubh have scored heavily in age group tournaments. It’s time to promote them,” the former India batsman says. “Kaustubh is a typical Mumbai batsman. He takes time to settle down. So does Nikhil. Surya, we all know, is the most flamboyant among them. He’ll go for his shots. But that’s where Wasim’s leadership will come into play,” he adds.

Mumbai are without Ajit Agarkar (injured) for the first match and they will miss the services of India greenhorn Ajinkya Rahane for most of the season. Jaffer, who along with Amre, was hauled over the coals for his ‘negative’ tactic of not going for the kill (and, of course, losing to Rajasthan in the quarterfinals last season), will open once again. The fact that regular openers Sushant Marathe (injured) and Sahil Kukreja (retired to pursue an MBA in London) are both unavailable means Onkar Gurav, the wicketkeeper, will partner him. Rohit Sharma (No 3) will hope his name is discussed in national selection meetings again.

Amre is slightly worried about the bowling attack, though. “Why are we not producing quality bowlers? What if one of Dhawal (Kulkarni), Avishkar (Salvi), Ramesh (Powar) or Iqbal (Abdulla) gets injured?” he wonders.

Despite these fears, Amre feels Mumbai will emerge victors again. “We had one bad session last season. And we lost. But remember we qualified for the knockouts as table toppers,” he recalls. Wadekar has a different take. “What happened to India in England two months ago? Well, something similar happened to Mumbai. Such wake-up calls are necessary. Just see how they fight back,” he says.