Warm-up tie for Mumbai ahead of sterner tests

MUMAI, NOV 21: A run-feast awaits cricket aficionados at the Wankhede Stadium tomorrow when Mumbai begin the defence of the Wills Trophy aga...

MUMAI, NOV 21: A run-feast awaits cricket aficionados at the Wankhede Stadium tomorrow when Mumbai begin the defence of the Wills Trophy against West Zone lightweights Gujarat in a limited-overs encounter. Led by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, the hosts carry too many ammunition to make the outcome a foregone conclusion. This, despite the absence of three of their regulars, Amit Pagnis, Sairaj Bahutule and Nilesh Kulkarni — all selected in the India Youth team for the three-dayer against West Indies A starting on Monday at Pune.

In fact, the One-dayer and the following four-day Ranji Trophy matches provide Test discards Vinod Kambli, Praveen Amre, Abey Kuruvilla and Paras Mhambrey an opportunity to reassert their stocks. Kambli will be closely monitored as the flamboyant southpaw would be playing a first-class match after almost nine months. A tragic twist of fate in the form of an ankle injury not only rendered him inactive for a frustratingly long period but also disabled his berth in the Indian team.The next five days will be the ideal platform for him to be back among runs, which he scored with aplomb last season.

Though the Mumbai coach Ashok Mankad has found nothing wrong with Kambli’s fitness, he has in fact left it to the player “to judge for himself whether he wants to play by tomorrow morning.”

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Amre is another player who would be under scrutiny. The 30-year-old batsman, who returns home after a `Bharat darshan’ that saw him represent Railways, Rajasthan and Bengal, will be keen to make an impact and resurrect his career.

The likes of Wasim Jaffer, Jatin Paranjpe, Amol Muzumdar, Rajesh Pawar, Rajesh Sutar and Sameer Dighe would have to wrestle for a share of the spotlight, at least for the opening games.

For India representatives Tendulkar and all-rounder Ajit Agarkar, the matches present a build-up to the forthcoming New Zealand tour.

The Gujarat players can probably take recourse in improving upon their past performance when the two sides met at Valsad last season. Sutar and Tendulkarhad smashed a 110-run opening stand in 15.5 overs on way to an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the one-dayer. And then Mumbai went on to win the four-dayer within three days by an innings and 68-runs.

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If the new Mumbai coach Mankad is to be believed, Gujarat has a Himalayan task at hand. “I am very much anxious and looking forward to this assignment as the coach of Mumbai. I would like to see Mumbai dominate as they have in the past. And we (team) would like to achieve what we are embarking upon — winning every competition that we compete in,” opined the former Test opener while speaking to The Indian Express.

The teams (from)

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar (C), Vinod Kambli (VC), Sameer Dighe, Sulakshan Kulkarni (both WKs), Jatin Paranjpe, Wasim Jaffer, Amol Muzumdar, Praveen Amre, Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey, Santosh Saxena, Rajesh Pawar, Rajesh Sutar, Ajit Agarkar & Manoj Joglekar. Coach: Ashok Mankad.

Gujarat: Mukund Parmar (C), Pathik Patel (VC-WK), Amrish Kotecha,Vipul Patel, Mihir Sheth, Tejas Varsani, Niraj Patel, Kirat Damani, Bhavin Mehta, Bhavik Patel, Vivek Parikh, Lalit Patel, Vijay Patel, Hiren Patel & Nilesh Modi.

Coach: Rajeev Desai.

Umpires: Sarabjit Singh (Patiala) & MS Mahal (Ludhiana).

Match referee: VS Rajan (Hyd).

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