With Wasim Jaffer as pivot, Mumbai looks to young guns as Ranji Trophy begins

Like on the eve of every Ranji Trophy game, on Saturday too, Mumbai veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer did his daily routine at the ground. Batting in the nets, slip catches and stretching exercises before taking a long walk back to the pavilion with a wide smile on his face. All prepared for next day's play.

He has been doing it for the last 18 years with the Mumbai team. And is replaying it in his 19th year. Having been part of eight Ranji Trophy victories off 40 since making debut in 1996-97, this year too, his sole motivation is to win Mumbai its 41st title.

Like Jaffer, there are younger players whose aim is to get into the history books. They may have the motivation to win the title or impress selectors with their performances. But for an out-of-favour stylish batsman his sole motivation is nothing but getting that silverware. He has been doing it for years and probably will do it till his hunger dies or for as long as his body holds.
For the last few years Mumbai has been going through a transitional phase ever since their top players either hung up their boots or shifted to other states. They have been experimenting with different players — young and not so young. While the combination keeps changing, what remains constant is that Mumbai's inexperienced batting revolves around Jaffer, who bats at No.3.

While selectors have kept Jaffer in the scheme of things owing to his experience, they are now more into blooding youngsters. They have bet on a maverick and aggressive Suryakumar Yadav as Mumbai's leader. It has been termed a bold move. But it reflects selectors' ability to plan for the future.

Mumbai begin their Ranji Trophy 2014-15 sojourn with their opening match against Jammu & Kashmir. "Excited" J&K players had only heard about the stories of Mumbai cricket and Wankhede. Today they have an opportunity to play them at their venue, thanks to the new format.

They may be in the awe but are not scared to take on the 'Goliath' of Indian cricket as they know it is an unpredictable game. "The team is very excited to play in Mumbai and against Mumbai as they know a good performance will be appreciated," said J&K coach Sunil Joshi.

Meanwhile, the hosts are not in a mood to take the 'David' lightly either. A good start will determine their course in the tourney. Captain Yadav is happy with what he has. A veteran in Jaffer, a workhorse in Abhishek Nayar, a strokemaker in Aditya Tare, an accurate seamer in Dhaval Kulkarni and others like Iqbal Abdulla, Vishal Dabholkar and Shardul Thakur as well.

However, Mumbai has finally got a replacement for off-spinner Ramesh Powar in 29-year-old Akshay Girap. The skipper feels Girap may not have the experience at first class level but is a seasoned local cricketer, who could play an important role.
J&K, meanwhile, do not have big names like Mumbai, but it certainly has hunger. Skipper Parvez Rasool, who failed to turn up for practice due to fever, will be fit for the game. And that will be a big enough inspiration for the underdogs to go for the big bite.

Teams
Mumbai: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Nayar, Wasim Jaffer, Dhaval Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Bravish Shetty, Praful Waghela, Shreyas Iyer, Iqbal Abdullah, Vishal Dabholkar, Shardul Thakur, Javed Khan, Badre Alam, Kevin Almeida, Akshay Girap

Jammu & Kashmir: Parvez Rasool (C), Adil Reshi, Bandeep Singh, Amiullah Beigh, Ram Dayal, Manik Gupta, Hardeep Singh, Obaid Haroon, Shubham Khajuria, Mehjoor Ali, Mohammed Mudhasir, Paras Sharma, Aditya Singh, Ian Dev Singh, Umar Nazir Mir, Waseem Raza

Group A

Baroda v Bengal at Vadodara
Karnataka v Tamil Nadu at Bangalore
Railways v Madhya Pradesh at Delhi

Group B
Delhi v Saurashtra at Delhi
Maharashtra v Odisha at Pune
Punjab v Haryana at Patiala
Rajasthan v Gujarat at Jaipur

Group C
Andhra v Hyderabad at Visakhapatnam
Assam v Tripura at Guwahati
Kerala v Goa at Wayanad
Services v Himachal Pradesh at Delhi
 

Trivia:

40
Number of times Mumbai have won in 80 editions

9737
Number of runs Wasim Jaffer has scored in Ranji Trophy. He is the highest scorer.

35
Number of centuries Jaffer scored in Ranji Trophy. It is the highest in tournament.

443*
BB Nimbalkar holds the record for highest score in a match that the Mahrashtra batsman got against

Kathiawar in 1948-49

1,415
Hyderabad's VVS Laxman holds the record of scoring most runs in a season in 1999-2000

637
Left-arm spinner Rajinder Singh Goel (Punjab, Delhi & Haryana) holds the record of most wickets

10/20
Bengal's Premangsu Chatterjee holds the best bowling figures against Assam in 1956-57

64
Delhi's Bishan Singh Bedi holds the record of most wickets in a season in 1974-75