Published: Feb 21, 2016, 10:53 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2016, 10:53 AM (IST)
Mumbai: Mumbai‘s bid to clinch their 41st Ranji Trophy crown, and the first after two seasons, got a significant boost with the availability of fit-again pacer Dhawal Kulkarni for the final against Saurashtra in Pune. Kulkarni missed the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh at Cuttack, after picking up an injury during their quarter-final victory over Jharkhand at Mysuru. Other than his inclusion, the Mumbai selectors have retained the squad that secured their place for their 45th title clash in Cuttack. Significantly, when Mumbai clinched their 40th crown, Saurashtra were their opponents in the 2012-13 season. The five-day final will begin on February 24. Aditya Tare says captaining Mumbai has benefitted his own game
Meanwhile, Aditya Tare has captained Mumbai to their 45th Ranji Trophy final. The 2015-16 final was Tare’s first season as skipper, and not only has the team flourished under him, but his own game has improved tremendously. Players of the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Akhil Herwadkar and Shreyas Iyer have improved tremendously under his watch. As a result Mumbai have reached the final of India’s premier domestic competition for the first time in three years which is a significant gap for the 40-time champions. Their ascent from semi-final to final also had largely to do with Tare’s spectacular century in the first innings.
“Well, we are obviously excited at the prospect of playing the finals. This is a young enthusiastic bunch who have come up with stellar contributions at crucial junctures of the seasons. This is the reason why we have managed to reach the finals,” Tare explained in an interview with Indian Express.
The Mumbai squad: Aditya Tare (c, wk), Abhishek Nayar, Dhaval Kulkarni, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Akhil Herwadkar (wk), Siddhesh Lad, Sufiyan Shaikh, Nikhil Patil (Jr.), Iqbal Abdullah, Shardul Thakur, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr.), Badre Alam, Bhavin Thakkar, Vishal Dabholkar.
