CIC chief Rajput wants to see batsmen with better temperament

Lalchand Rajput

Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) chairman Lalchand Rajput has stressed that Mumbai are not playing as per the city's cricket reputation and wants to see batsmen with better temperament for Mumbai to give a good account of themselves in the Ranji Trophy starting on January 5.

After Mumbai's ouster in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and Vijay Hazare Trophy at the quarter-finals stage, the CIC discussed the team's poor show with coaches, selectors and MCA officials at the MCA Academy in Bandra-Kurla Complex on Tuesday.

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"Mumbai's batting failure is a main concern. We are not moving ahead and Mumbai need to regroup before the red-ball season starts," Rajput told mid-day on Wednesday.

Mumbai start their Ranji Trophy campaign in an away game against Bihar on January 5. The Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai team lost to Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy quarter-finals at Mullanpur last month. In the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mumbai's challenge ended with a defeat to Tamil Nadu at the same stage, in Rajkot recently.

"Winning is important. At the same time, developing bench strength is important. I asked the coaches and selectors how many batsmen scored centuries? If our top four batsmen don't get hundreds, the team will struggle to win. We have to identify players who have good temperament and can bat for long periods. I'd say play positively, but get big hundreds, even taking singles and rotating the strike is a positive way of batting," Rajput remarked.

Opener Jay Bista emerged Mumbai's top run-getter with 318 in eight Vijay Hazare Trophy games. Skipper Rahane and wicketkeeper-batsman Prasad Pawar managed to score 158 and 168 respectively in eight matches while Suved Parkar and Sarfaraz Khan scored 127 and 91 runs respectively in six games each.