Mane to captain Jammu & Kashmir

Mumbai batsman Vinayak Mane has taken up Jammu & Kashmir's (J&K) offer to lead the side in the Ranji Plate League this season after spending eight years with the Ranji champions. Mane said getting only two first-class games last season prompted his decision to leave Mumbai.

"Once I was dropped after getting two games last Ranji season, I realised that the selectors were looking for younger guys, I had no place in the system, and I don't want to blame anyone for this," Mane told Times of India.

Mane, 27, said his aim at J&K was to infuse confidence in the players about competing with stronger sides. "There are some talented boys in there. Pacer Abid Nabi, who was playing in the Indian Cricket League, is back too." There is a huge presence of the army in J&K, troubled by separatist groups, but Mane said it did not bother him. "I went for a 10-day camp in Srinagar recently, as the authorities wanted me to have a look at the boys. I saw plenty of gun-toting commandos while we were training. "I went for a 10-day camp in Srinagar recently, as the authorities wanted me to have a look at the boys. I saw plenty of gun-toting commandos while we were training."

Mane, who has scored 2386 runs at 35.61 from 54 matches for Mumbai, said he would miss playing for his home side but felt he needed to move on. "I can't tell you in words how much I will miss playing for Mumbai, having played my cricket here all along." An injury in 2001 forced him to have surgery on his arm and eventually change his grip and batting style.