Mumbai's maidans have seen the rise of many quality cricketers who shifted to other states because they failed to get a permanent place in Mumbai's playing XI.
Mumbai's maidans have seen the rise of many quality cricketers who shifted to other states because they failed to get a permanent place in Mumbai's playing XI.
Two of them have come back to haunt Mumbai.
At the end of the first day of the Ranji Trophy game against Himachal Pradesh at the Bandra-Kurla Complex yesterday, former Mumbai batsmen Vinit Indulkar (10) and Bhavin Thakkar (48) walked backu00a0 to the pavilion knowing that a good session on the second day would give the defending champions a lot of headaches.
Mumbai came into this match aiming for an outright win to bolster their position on the points table but are now looking down the barrel with HP 100 for 3. Mumbai were bowled out for 162. Losing points here could mean a struggle to make the knock-out phase.
"The first session tomorrow will be very crucial. Both Bhavin and Vinit are experienced batsmen and they are not only used to playing on this ground, but also know a lot about our bowling attack," said Mumbai coach Praveen Amre. Indulkar and Thakkar started playing for HP last season.
At one stage, HP were 79 for no loss but Mumbai got a ray of hope thanks to an impressive spell of 9-5-17-2 from 17-year-old debutant left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh.
"The wickets were crucial as it opened up the game for us. But we need to get Vinit and Bhavin quickly if we are to have any chance of getting a first innings lead. Those two are the key wickets for us," Amre said.
Mumbai are known to pressurise opponents into committing mistakes. But there's a chance it might not work against two of their own.
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