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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, April 18: At time when cricket is seeing red all over, a small strip of green came as welcome relief at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. The Hyderabad team, however, may like to contest that. Their bowling strength lies in spin twins Venkatapathy Raju and Kanwaljeet Singh, but with Mumbai rolling out a green carpet for the Ranji Trophy final, the principal weapons of the southeners have been blunted.
Much of the attention from the 66th final of the National Championship — which gets under way on Wednesday — is distracted by the betting and match-fixing bombshells that is periodically exploding all over. But with Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Azharuddin heading the batting starcast of the rival teams, the season-ending finale offers much for the connoisseurs of the game.
Guided by Tendulkar, Mumbai look clear pre-match favourites to reassert theirsupremacy on the national scene for the 34th time. And how well they have regained their lost pride after ignominiously failing — for the first time ever — to come through the zonal stages.
History is against Hyderabad, who are winless against Mumbai in eight previous meetings. It will take the visitors a lot if they have to win the Ranji Trophy for a third time in 24 final appearances.
Hyderabad have done exceptionally well in the run-up to the final, especially in the way they dethroned Karnataka in the semi-finals. With Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman plundering a triple hundred and Azhar helping himself to a century in the penultimate round, the Hyderabad batting offers meaningful challenge to the impressive Mumbai seam attack of Ajit Agarkar, Santosh Saxena, Abey Kuruvilla and Paras Mhambrey.
Coach Ashok Mankad told mediapersons Mumbai will insert the opposition if they win the toss. Which is only to be expected. The coach believes playing in front of the home crowd will give his team a major advantage.
However, Mankad was not taking Hyderabad lightly. “We respect them, but we do not fear them. They are a fine side with an excellent record,” he said.
Mankad is proud his team is focussed with the job on hand than think about the national colours. “This attitudinal change has been responsible for the success,” he explained.
Skipper Sameer Dighe himself appeared more than delighted to lead his team in the summit clash. But he tempered his words by saying: “You never know in a five-day game… Last year, we did not even qualify for the Super League and this year, we have come of within one match of winning the title.”
Mumbai have stormed into the final with outright wins over Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. And with Tendulkar striking terror in the semis with an unconquered 233, Mumbai have many reasons to be upbeat.
The nature of the wicket has prompted Mumbai to go into the match with a single spinner; the experienced left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni should come in for Rajesh Pawar. That Pawar could sit out despite taking 31 wickets this season highlights the riches at Mumbai’s command.
Off-spinner Ramesh Powar, who has been selected for the National Cricket Academy as the lone trainee from Mumbai, may also have to be content in boosting his team from the sidelines.
Hyderabad’s main worry may be the seam department, which may be inadequate to capitalise on the juice the rectangle is likely to provide.
The city weather is no comfort for the paying public, but cricket-loving Mumbaikars would not like miss the opportunity on seeing Tendulkar tuck heartily into Hyderabadi biryani.
Teams (from)
Hyderabad: Mohammed Azharuddin (captain), Venkatapathy Raju (vice-capt), VVS Laxman, Vanka Pratap, Kanwaljit Singh, Narendra Pal Singh, Nanda Kishore, Youraj Singh, Riaz Shiek, Parth Satwalkar, Daniel Manohar, Shivaji Yadav, Arjun Yadav, Fiaz Ahmed, Vinay Kumar and Raghuram.
Mumbai: Sameer Dighe (captain), Amol Muzumdar (vice-capaint), Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Wasim Jaffer, Jatin Paranjpe, Ajit Agarkar, Santosh Saxena, Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, Rajesh Pawar, Nilesh Kulkarni, Ramesh Powar, Amit Dani, Sriram Kannan and Amit Pagnis.
Umpires: Jasbir Singh (Punjab) and Narendra Menon (MP).
Match referee: Ramesh Saxena (Bihar).
Hours of play: 9.30 am to 12 noon; 12.40 to 2.40 pm; 3 to 4.30 pm.
