It’s an honour to lead Mumbai: Agarkar
First Published : 25 Oct 2012, 16:42
Last Modified : 25 Oct 2012, 16:42
Johannesburg, Oct 24: As Mumbai begin their quest for a 40th Ranji Trophy title on November 2, 2012, they will be led by Ajit Agarkar in the first four league matches of the 2012-13 season.
Speaking to bcci.tv, the pacer who also led the side in the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year, said, “I look forward to it. It is a big challenge to lead. Just look at some of the guys who have led before and I feel it’s a massive honour.”
Speaking about his side, he said, “Luckily we have been blessed with five bowlers who are all match-winning bowlers that we generally play. And this year I think we will play a few games at the Wankhede Stadium, which we have been missing in the last few years which definitely affords our bowlers a bit more help than what BKC did.”
“Dhawal [Kulkarni] has been around now for four-five years. Ramesh [Powar] has been a phenomenal performer for us, Iqbal [Abdullah] has done well, Ankit [Chavan] last year played a few games and he has also done well. We have got guys who have been playing for a few years now, so it’s not like there is a completely new team, which makes it easier. Kaustubh Pawar had a good season last year and Ajinkya [Rahane] might be there for a few games. He might be there in the India Test squad and so not available later. Rohit’s Sharma has been around and Abhishek Nayar has been around for some time. So I think we have got enough experience,” he added.
The 39-time champions last lifted the trophy in 2009-10 and will be looking to make amends for the results that they have had in the last two years. “We have not had the results we would like in the last couple of years, so we would like to play better this year,” he said.
The pacer who is currently playing in CLT20 2012 for the Delhi Daredevils will hope to hit the ground running when he walks out for the toss against Railways on November 2 at the Wankhede Stadium. Veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar and India’s pace spearhead Zaheer Khan have also been named in the Mumbai probables squad.
