Short, stocky, compact and with a penchant to drive with the full face of the bat, Vinayak Mane, like so many other batsmen from Mumbai, invited comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar when he burst onto the domestic scene in 2000-01. However, as with each player who has suffered similarly, Mane never quite lived up to the promise. For a time he was in the national reckoning, as India searched for opening batsmen, but he never quite made it to the highest level despite getting chances to play in warm-up matches against visiting teams. An average of less than 40, from 54 first-class matches, with only four centuries, is poor return for a batsman once thought very highly of by people in the know in Mumbai cricket. In the absence of senior cricketers away playing club cricket in England, Mane got a chance to lead Mumbai in their Mohammad Nissar Trophy match against Karachi Urban, and was back in the limelight in late 2007. However he struggled to keep his place in the Mumbai team when they won the Ranji Trophy for the 38th time.
Anand Vasu January 2009