Indian Premier League: Mumbai Indians way for young Delhi bunch
IPL defending champions give cricketers from capital call up for a two-day camp in Baroda.
Delhi players — Milind Kumar, Varun Sood, Manan Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Pawan Negi — have been asked to report in Baroda on January 16 for a two day camp organised by IPL defending champions Mumbai Indians.
All these players were informed by MI officials Paras Mhambrey and Rahul Sanghvi, about the franchise’s initiative to select players for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League.
The two-day camp, which seems like a selection trial, will likely feature practice games as it will make the task easier for the MI organisers to pick the best talent. The players that will eventually get selected are to be thrown into an open IPL auction from where they have a chance to get inducted into any of the IPL teams.
While Pawan Negi is the only player to have IPL experience as he had featured for Delhi Daredevils, it will be a fresh experience for the rest.
“It was a surprise for me when I received a call from Rahul Sanghvi some two days back. The biggest thing was that I wasn’t expecting any call from any franchise and when it came, it was from one of the best IPL teams. It is truly an opportunity and I will make sure that I give my best over there.
One thing is clear that in these two days, the MI people will notice us properly and they will then judge whether we have it in ourselves. Rest, it’s a great learning chance,” says Delhi left-arm spinner Varun Sood, who picked up ten wickets in three matches this Ranji Trophy season.
Apart from the current domestic season, the MI camp has certainly taken the 2013 edition of Challenger Trophy and the CK Nayudu Trophy in consideration.
Since Milind Kumar has played just one Ranji Trophy match this season against Karnataka, his Challenger Trophy performances are certainly helping him now. His two half-century knocks in three matches in Indore in September are pushing his case for an IPL selection.
“I think that they have taken the performance of list A into consideration as well. This year I have really done well in List A and I hope I do well in the matches to come. Right now there is just one thing on my mind that I have to score runs,” says Milind.
With Mohit Sharma not getting a chance to play for the senior team this season, he has done enough in the CK Nayudu Trophy to earn a call-up. Sharma played three matches and scored 441 runs in five innings at 88.2 including a century and three half centuries. On the other hand, Manan Sharma, an allrounder has featured in three Ranji matches in 2013-14 and has a half century to his name against Gujarat.
As a bowler, he couldn’t get many wickets but his spells have certainly been disciplined and have contained the run flow.
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