Thanks to two consecutive record chases in as many weeks, Mumbai has been assured of a place in the Ranji Trophy knockouts. In fact, it is all set to top Group B, having registered four outright wins in seven games.
The situation Mumbai finds itself in now is in stark contrast to the 2014-15 season. With a game to go, Mumbai was a rank outsider to qualify for the next stage. Despite the change in fortunes this time around, one issue continues to bother the team. It can be safely said that Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy campaign is faltering when it comes to opening partnerships.
While Akhil Herwadkar has established himself as Mumbai’s prime opening batsman, the team management has struggled to find a partner for the left-handed batsman. Thanks to his unbeaten run of five consecutive fifty-plus scores, Herwadkar has tallied more than 500 runs this season.
Unsettled combination
Herwadkar’s partner at the other end, however, has emerged as a major headache for the team. In the seven league games so far this season, the 40-times Ranji champion has tried three specialist openers. However, the triumvirate of captain Aditya Tare, Shrideep Mangela and Jay Bista has managed just one fifty at the top of the order.
As a result, Mumbai has managed to raise just one fifty-plus partnership in nine batting essays this year. And the average for the first wicket, 18.09, is just unacceptable for any first-class team, let alone the one that’s topping the points chart.
“For any team to be very successful, the opening pair is crucial because it sets the foundation,” says Lalchand Rajput, former India and Mumbai opener. “If you have a set opening pair, which is the case with most successful teams, the team does very well. A settled opening pair is a must for every winning team. Hopefully Mumbai will have a reliable combination soon.”
Bista’s aggressive 74 on a rank turner in Indore set the tone for Mumbai’s chase of 280 earlier in the week. The 19-year-old has emerged as a ray of hope for bolstering the opening combination. However, the teenager will have to control his aggression and play according to the situation if he has to cement his place in the side.
In fact, controlling the aggressive instinct has been a major hurdle for Mumbai openers in the recent past. Rajput, a former India cricket manager and assistant coach, has been in touch with the talent pool in Mumbai, having served as India Under-19 coach, NCA batting coach and director of the Mumbai Cricket Association’s indoor academy. So what is it that’s lacking in Mumbai openers? Is it lack of talent or lack of opportunities?
“I don’t think the batsmen are getting fewer opportunities,” Rajput says. “It’s got more to do with temperament. Sound technique is a must for every opening batsman. One must also use sound judgement and display patience to leave balls outside the off stump. But with the advent of Twenty20 cricket, batsmen are getting impatient and even the openers look to play more shots. This is resulting in early dismissals.”
Makeshift opener
So sceptical has Mumbai been about its opening combination that in the first innings of its away game against Baroda, the team asked pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni to join Herwadkar at the top. Coach Chandrakant Pandit later explained that the move was a ploy to nullify the moisture in the pitch.
The tactic displayed that Mumbai was not at all confident about its batsmen’s ability to cope with the moving ball. The inability of openers to come good has resulted in Shreyas Iyer virtually acting as a makeshift opener.
Iyer, the highest run-getter of the season, has smashed the ball all over the park in most of his nine innings to make up for the openers’ failure. However, if Iyer stutters in the business end of the season and Herwadkar is dismissed early on, the lack of a formidable opening combination may cost Mumbai big time.
The idiom ‘well begun is half done’ fits perfectly into the cricket analogy. Having qualified for the knockout phase, Mumbai’s quest of regaining the Ranji crown is half done.
They would be hoping to get into the mode of beginning well in the last league game, against Gujarat at the Wankhede, next week.
