Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer had said on the eve of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Saurashtra that they would like to forget their Super League tie earlier in the season, when Saurashtra posted a mammoth total and then had Mumbai reeling for the last two days.
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Confident: Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra |
Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer had said on the eve of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Saurashtra that they would "like to forget" their Super League tie earlier in the season, when Saurashtra posted a mammoth total and then had Mumbai reeling for the last two days.
However, the Mumbai camp might as well have invoked memories of the Rajkot tie yesterday night. From the proceedings of the opening day, it seemed as if the semi-final is heading the same way as the tie earlier in the league. Only difference though, it is Saurashtra who are likely to be at the receiving end instead of the domestic giants.
At stumps yesterday, Mumbai had garnered 268 for 1. Whereas in Rajkot in November last year, Saurashtra ended Day One at 285 for 1, on course to a mammoth 643 for 4.
Good day"It was a good day for our team. And we can certainly treat them the same way as we were treated in Rajkot," Mumbai coach Praveen Amre said yesterday.
Even Jaffer believed that Mumbai can stretch Saurashtra and force an outright win. "First, we have to put at least 550 on the board. For that we may probably bat the whole day tomorrow. Then, we could put them under pressure."
But Saurashtra coach Debu Mitra disagreed with Jaffer.
"This is a very, very slow wicket. The Rajkot one was a 50-50," Mitra told MiD DAY. "The wicket is so slow that I don't think a good batsman will get out unless he commits a mistake."
Jaffer, on the other hand, was sure that Mumbai's pace battery, including Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Dhawal Kulkarni and Abhishek Nayar, would make good use of the wicket.
"Even though it's a slow wicket, it certainly offers nice bounce," Jaffer said. "I am sure our bowlers will be able to extract it to good effect. And of course, with Zaheer around, he will always get reverse swing."
