'The balance has been missing' – Jaffer
The Mumbai side that will face Madhya Pradesh is almost unrecognisable from the team that played Rajasthan last year, due to injuries and unavailability of players
Abhishek Purohit in Indore01-Jan-2012
Abhishek Nayar has been withdrawn from the squad due to injury•Fotocorp
Multiple champions in an away knockout game against underdogs with nothingto lose and everything to gain. Mumbai have been in this situation before.Eventual winners Rajasthan knocked them out of the Ranji Trophy lastseason in the quarter-final in Jaipur, their new-ball pair of Pankaj Singhand Deepak Chahar utilising the opening session to run through a line-upthat included Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and AbhishekNayar.The stage has shifted to Indore this season but an in-form new-ball duo,TP Sudhindra and Ishwar Pandey, again awaits Mumbai in anotherquarter-final on a pitch expected to aid the quicks in the first session.This is where the similarities end.The Mumbai side that will face Madhya Pradesh is almost unrecognisable from the team that played Rajasthan.Rahane and Rohit are in Australia on national duty. Nayar has lost hislatest battle with injuries and has been withdrawn from the squad. AjitAgarkar is still miffed after being dropped against Orissa; the man he wasdropped for, Aavishkar Salvi, got injured during Mumbai’s previous gameagainst Punjab. To top it all, wicketkeeper-batsman Sushant Maratheinjured his groin while diving to collect a delivery in the Punjab match.Mumbai have been used to the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khanbut missing so many first-choice players is almost like playing with asecond XI.Jaffer, the captain, said that all the injuries had playedhavoc with the balance of the team. “It has troubled the composition ofthe team. We could have played Nayar as the third seamer and Marathe asthe opening batsman. The balance has been missing.”But you don’t win the Ranji Trophy 39 times if you don’t have theresilience to fight adversity. After Salvi and Marathe pulled out on thefirst day, a nine-man Mumbai demolished Punjab by nine wickets. Jaffer saidMumbai would have to make the most of what they have got in terms ofresources. “I think we have still got good quality in the team,” Jaffersaid. “Whatever newcomers we have got, they have done well. Onkar Gurav[Marathe’s replacement] has played before. This is not his first game. Soat least temperament-wise he won’t be struggling.”With the batting as well as the pace bowling thin on experience, Mumbaicould even go in with three spinning allrounders in Ramesh Powar, AnkeetChavan and Iqbal Abdulla, leaving one of Balwinder Sandhu or KshemalWaingankar to partner Dhawal Kulkarni with the new ball.The pitch, which had a fair sprinkling of grass today over a slightlydry-looking surface, was a matter of keen interest for the Mumbai campwith several of their players inspecting it along with coach SulakshanKulkarni. Jaffer said that was because Mumbai needed to be sure what theywould do if they won the toss. “The pitch could still end up lookingcompletely different in the morning. It should help the seamers in thefirst session and then it will probably ease out to becomebatsman-friendly.”Jaffer was mindful of the threat posed by Sudhindra and Pandey – who have57 wickets between them this season – but said that the MP attack heldlittle danger otherwise. “Apart from those two, not many have takenwickets for them. If we negate them, we will be in a good position. It’s aknockout game and will probably go on the first innings.”If Mumbai bat first tomorrow, Jaffer will hope that it is not decided by the firstsession again.