‘I got the message and so I moved’

Back again as the captain of the Jammu & Kashmir side which marks a fresh start,the 27-year-old has some unfinished business in the middle. One of them will surely be to change the perception of him being a cricketer who was once in the reckoning for an India call-up.

“I have nothing against the Mumbai selectors. They were looking for younger players and I was struggling with injuries and form. So its okay,I took the decision in my stride,” he said minutes after his team thrashed Services by nine wickets in the ongoing Syed Mustaq Ali T20 North Zone match at the Palam ground on Wednesday.

Three surgeries on his left forearm,and another on his hip meant that over the last few seasons,he had lost his place in the Mumbai first XI.

“In the 2005-06 season I was struggling to make runs,had a few decent starts but not a single big score. And then I told the selectors that I wasn’t available. I went back and made runs in local cricket and tried to make a comeback. But by then I had lost it,” he added.

He then consulted Greg Hog,who carried out two of the operations done on him but it hardly made a difference to the muscle damage that occurred after playing through the injuries. Forced to cope with the situation initially,Mane was picked again by the Mumbai selectors after scoring heavily in local cricket leagues. But the batsman was not guaranteed a slot and the uncertainty made him make a move.

“I was a part of the Mumbai teams for the Buchi Babu tournament and then was dropped and last season I only got two Ranji games. I got the message and decided to move,” he said about his decision.

“J&K had first approached Amol (Muzumdar),but by then he had already joined Assam and so he forwarded my name and I accepted their offer.”

J&K team have promise
Mane said he had great confidence in his young bunch of team mates that includes quite a few quality seamers.

“The team is young and I can see the potential in the boys. We have got good seamers in the side. The only thing we lack as a team is experience of local players. All they need is a bit of exposure. We have to play more games.”

Delhi,J&K win
New Delhi: Delhi were made to wait till the 20th over to seal their second win in the ongoing Syed Mustaq Ali T20 (North Zone) match against Punjab at the Palam ground on Wednesday.

Only a late-order flourish from Rajat Bhatia (37 not out) and Joginder Singh (24 not out) brought them home after the failure of the top order.

Punjab were in the hunt till the 17th over,but Singh and Bhatia came good to thwart them In the other matches,Jammu& Kashmir thumped Services by nine wickets,while Haryana scored their beat Himachal by seven runs.

Brief scores: Punjab 136 for 8 in 20 overs (Sunny Sohal 42; Rajat Bhatia 3/33) lost to Delhi 138 for 5 in 19.1 overs (Rajat Bhatia 37 not out,Joginder Singh 24 not out; Rahul Sharma 2/20