Mumbai banking on IPL experience

• AMOL KARHADKAR

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  Dhawal Kulkarni
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  Shreyas Iyer

With most players busy with their local clubs, preparations have been far from ideal

Indian Premier League (IPL) is technically a domestic tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. But it’s not the only domestic T20 tournament. Ahead of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the inter-State T20 tournament, Mumbai is banking on its players’ IPL experience to help them sail through the league stage.

Thirteen Mumbai cricketers among the 15-member squad have been part of an IPL team’s dressing room at some point over the eight editions of the glitzy T20 league. Coach Chandrakant Pandit is banking on their experience over the next week.

“We are obviously banking on their IPL experience,” Pandit told The Hindu after the team arrived in Cuttack, the venue for its group matches. “Most of them have played in the IPL, while some have been part of the squads. Their experience of having learnt the tricks of the trade from some of the greats of the game will definitely help us not just on the field but even when it comes to strategising.”

New format

Just like the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the structure of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy has been changed this year. Instead of a zonal league stage, the 27 teams have been divided into four groups, with the top two in each group proceeding to the eight-team Super League. Mumbai is placed in a tough Group D along with Karnataka, Services, Odisha, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Some promising Mumbai players like Shreyas Iyer, Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur will be hoping to knock on the national selectors’ door for the World T20, to be played in India in March-April. Moreover, the tournament will also be an opportunity for all players to make a strong case during next month’s IPL auction.

However, Pandit wasn’t really focussed on it. In fact, the former India wicketkeeper-batsman was hoping that Mumbai’s lack of preparation would not hamper it a great deal during the league stage.

Despite bowing out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the league stage, the Mumbai T20 squad hasn’t been able to train together over the last two weeks. According to Pandit, the only time the whole squad trained together was during a couple of simulation matches it played at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s facility at Bandra-Kurla Complex.

“We haven’t had the ideal preparation. Most players were busy playing for their clubs in local tournaments. Since a prestigious tournament like the Police Shield was on, it would have been unfair to ask them to skip club games and train for the T20 league,” Pandit said.

As a result, the team hasn’t really gelled together despite the core remaining the same as the Ranji Trophy.

“It becomes difficult for players to keep adapting to various formats with very little time for preparation in between,” Pandit said. “From a coaching staff’s perspective, it is challenging to re-jig combinations with specialists coming in and get the best out of them. We hope things fall in place for us over the next week.”

T20 specialists

Mumbai selectors, headed by Milind Rege, have decided to include T20 specialists. As a result, medium-pacer Rohan Raje and big-hitter Siddharth Chitnis, who has been barred from bowling his part-time off-spin due to a dubious action, have been included in the squad.

Pravin Tambe, the leggie who has been a revelation for Rajasthan Royals, has also been selected.

He will hope to deliver the goods along with left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah. The only players who have never been part of the IPL so far are openers Akhil Herwadkar and Jay Bista.

THE SQUAD

Aditya Tare (capt), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Iqbal Abdullah, Shardul Thakur, Siddhesh Lad, Abhishek Nayar, Abhishek Raut, Jay Bista, Akhil Herwadkar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Sagar Trivedi, Rohan Raje, Siddharth Chitnis.