Mumbai’s loss could be Baroda’s gain

For the 60-year-old Mankad, even as he looks forward to driving home the point that “Baroda have been a better team in terms of all-round performance,” there is a certain thrill waiting to happen in the Mumbai camp. Skipper Amol Muzumdar is only 24 runs away from reaching a milestone in the Ranji Trophy.

These runs — if he gets them in Baroda — will help the 31-year-old surpass the record set by none other than Mankad during his playing days for Mumbai. And this is something that makes Mankad “happy” like nobody else.

Mumbai have faltered twice in the last two years when it came to the semi-finals, both at home, as this time they don’t want to see anything going wrong. “Baroda are a good team and they have done exceptionally well this season. To add to it, Irfan is also there. We will have to play good cricket, the way we’ve done in the last three matches, to compete with them,” says Muzumdar.

Baroda have been exceptional and there’s little doubt that they will give Mumbai a good run for their money. The fact that Mankad gave his senior players a rest instead of a grueling net session on the eve of the match also suggests that the team is high on confidence.

More than the game on hand, this will also be a battle of minds and only the better equipped in handling both could very well have the last laugh.