Return of the Zaidi: Ashish aims for a hat-trick

In his playing days,Zaidi had a knack of reserving his best for the mighty Mumbai and Kaif wanted the former pacer to pass on some tricks to the present bunch.

Way back in 1998,when UP first beat Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium,Zaidi finished with figures of 11.3-4-29-6. A couple of seasons back,Mumbai met UP again in a home game. Zaidi was well past his prime but he still managed to scalp four wickets and shatter Mumbai’s title dreams.

Now,as he explains his success against Mumbai,Zaidi tries to keep things as simple. “That’s what the boys were asking me today at the meeting. I tried to explain that whoever one plays against,cricket always remains a game played with bat and ball. All one needs is confidence. There is no need to get overawed by the stars in the rival camp,” says Zaidi.

With RP Singh and Praveen Kumar expected to share the new ball,there are enough players in the UP team to take advantage of Zaidi’s advice.

Going down the memory lane,Zaidi explains the way in which he demystified the Mumbai batsmen. “It was very simple in those days. In our team meeting,every bowler used to pick a rival batsman and plan to get them out. There was no major collective planning,so we used our brains to get our batsmen,” he recalls.

So,which batsman did he pick? “Amol Muzumdar,” he replies. And before one checks if Zaidi got Muzumdar in that match,the pacer describes the slow leg-cutter that got rid off the the Mumbaikar’s leg-stump. With Muzumdar expected to be in the playing XI this time around,he would do himself good if he keeps an eye on the slow leg-cutter.