Two seasons ago, the mighty Mumbai team was shown the door by an
upbeat and unexpected Uttar Pradesh team in the semi-finals of the
Ranji Trophy in their own backyard. Lots of heads rolled and the
Mumbai Cricket Association came under tremendous pressure from former
and present cricketers for putting up a dismal performance.
Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli gave Mumbai their 34th Ranji title
last season which also marked the end of Abey Kuruvilla's first class
career. The Irani trophy at the start of the new season was not a very
pleasant outing for Mumbai, VVS Laxman walking away with the Irani
trophy. Signs of another disastrous season were visible and heads were
low after the Irani Trophy debacle.
The season marked the return of all-rounder Robin Morris to the Mumbai
side after a brief stint with Orissa. Robin's inclusion in the team
was doubtful after the ten wicket defeat in the Irani Trophy match.
The team management however gave him the nod and he was on his way to
Baroda for the Ranji One Day tournament. Robin let the score card
answer his critics. He plundered the bowling attacks, piling 257 runs
from his four innings at an average of 128. He put his medium swingers
to good effect, bagging seven wickets in the tournament.
It was a testing season for fellow opener Wasim Jaffer who was omitted
for the Test series against Zimbabwe. Wasim was branded a Test player
and not suitable for the limited version of the game. The tall lanky
Mumbai opener let his bat do the talking for him in the One Day
tournament. Wasim amassed 302 runs at an average of 151. His scores
included an unbeaten century in the final game against Baroda and
three half centuries in the previous games.
The attitude and the body language of the players displayed that
Mumbai was back to its winning ways. Mumbai chased in all the four
matches and rampaged home in blistering style. On their demolition
path, they picked up a ten wicket victory against Maharashtra and two
nine wicket victories against Gujarat and Baroda.
The 'Khadoos' cricketers, as they are known for their grit and
determination backed by confidence, are back to their winning ways and
in great style. Mumbai suffered a setback last season, with the
retirement of medium pacer Abey Kuruvilla but Santosh Saxena has
filled in the gap and has matured as a medium pacer for Mumbai. Rajesh
Pawar, Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule form a formidable spin trio
that gives excellent support to the new ball attack of Paras Mhambrey,
Santosh Saxena and all-rounders Amit Dani and Robin Morris.
The news is that the team is back and all eyes are set on them to
bring the glory of Indian cricket back to Mumbai.