The Rest of India and Ranji Trophy champions, Mumbai are geared up for a face-off at the Cricket Club of India in a five-day match for the Irani Cup beginning March 6, 2016. Some of the best players in India’s domestic circuit in the longest format of the game will be turning up for both sides in an effort to win the title and showcase their skills.
Speaking about the significance of the game, Mumbai captain, Aditya Tare said, “Irani Cup is seen as a big event, a launching pad. It is an important game, because everyone looks at it. The Rest of India It is a quality team so anyone who does well against them gets a good advantage. It’s a good motivation for the guys in the team to do well and show their talent and temperament against a good opposition.”
The Rest of India captain, Naman Ojha too echoed Tare’s thoughts that the match gives the players another opportunity to display their skills on a bigger platform. Asked what he would be telling his team on the eve of the big game, Naman said, “I don’t think I need to tell anything to them. I think the boys are motivated to play and we can see from the practice session that they are all hungry to perform. So I think it is easy to captain a bunch of guys who are hungry to play for Rest of India.”
While players from either side will be keen to perform on the big platform, Mumbai’s strong batting lineup comprising the top two run-getters of Ranji Trophy – Shreyas Iyer and Akhil Herwadkar - will be tested by ROI’s bowling attack which includes the top two wicket-takers – Shahbaz Nadeem and Krishna Das.
Speaking about the opposition and their bowling, Tare said, “It’s a good team. They are a bunch of boys who have done extremely well in the first-class season. It is going to be a great game and a big challenge for us.”
Speaking about his bowling unit taking on Mumbai’s batting lineup, Naman said, “Mumbai is a good team. They have won the Ranji Trophy. They are very confident and also our boys are (confident) because they have performed and have been selected for that in ROI so I think it’s (going to be) a good fight between ROI and Mumbai.”
While stating that bowling is the strength of his team, Naman said, “I think we are a very good bowling team and a very young batting team. We have a very young bunch of batsmen. I think it’s very good for us.”
The young ROI batting lineup will be tested against an attack comprising the experienced Dhawal Kulkarni and the inform Shardul Thakur. Discussing the senior bowler who has given Mumbai timely breakthroughs more often than not, Tare said, “I think he bowled well throughout the season. He was bowling really well with the white ball I thought he was at his best with the white ball when we played the one-dayers and the T20s and with the red ball he just got better right from the first game he played he just stepped up. Even in the finals he bowled really well.”
After a resounding performance engineered by the bowling unit and a deep batting lineup in the Ranji Trophy final, Mumbai will be looking to carry their momentum and continue their winning streak. “We achieved our goal of this season to win the Ranji Trophy, but now it is history. What matters is what lies ahead and what lies ahead is a very important match again – the Irani Cup, which matters a lot to us. So we are geared up again and we have prepared well.” Tare said.
“We know it’s been a long time since Mumbai has won the Irani Cup so it’s a good challenge for us and good motivation to do something special again in this match,” Tare added while acknowledging the fact that Mumbai last won the title in 1997-98.
While they look to win the Cup, the captains too along with their team, look forward to making an impression. “It’s a big opportunity for me and all my boys to show our talent and temperament again. I am looking forward to play. I love challenges and I love big games and I am geared up and I will do my best tomorrow,” Tare mentioned.
His opposite number too reiterated the thought. “I think every game is important for me. I want to make an impression like I made in the last two games in the knockouts and I want to repeat that,” Naman said while adding, “I think it’s a great honour to lead the Rest of India team. We will play normal cricket while the basics in mind.”
