Ranji Final: Another 'English' wicket likely to greet teams

Indian captain MS Dhoni slammed the pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here a fortnight ago, saying it was more “an English” surface than Indian after his batsmen went tumbling to rookie Sri Lankan speedsters in the first T20I recently.

It is the same 22-yard strip that will host the five-day Ranji Trophy final between 40-time champions Mumbai and two-time finalists Saurashtra.

The first thing that the Mumbai players did after reaching the stadium on Monday for training was head straight to the pitch. Not only the captain and coach but all 15 playing members had a look at the surface to form their own opinions.

It looked green to the naked eye from the boundary line, casting doubts if the match will last all five days. Certainly, there was nothing Indian about it. But with a full day to go before the start of play, anything could happen to the nature of the pitch that was described as “a very sporting” pitch by Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit.

“It is a very nice pitch. Very sporting,” Pandit said with a mischievous smile.

Pandit knew that he had the medium-pacers to do the job if grass was left on the pitch. Dhawal Kulkarni, the experienced right-armer who has been part of three victorious Mumbai teams since his debut in 2008-09, is back after missing the semifinal due to hamstring injury. He has been dangerous when the pitch assists the quicks and, in the company of Shardul Thakur, can make early inroads into the Saurashtra batting line-up that is largely reliant on Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.

Thakur, who was the joint highest wicket-taker last season, has been off target with just 33 scalps from 10 matches this time around. However, Pandit is not worried about Thakur, who appeared for India ‘A’ this season without much success.

“It is difficult for anybody to repeat the same performance. Shardul has been bowling extremely well but was a little unlucky in not getting wickets. I am happy with his performance,” Pandit defended his 24-year-old bowler.

“Dhawal is our main bowler, of course with Shardul. He has been bowling extremely well and is a central figure to the team’s progress and one who can share vital inputs with the younger players,” Pandit added.

Kulkarni may not have picked up wickets by the heap this season, being constantly bothered by injuries. In seven matches, he has accounted for only 12 sticks but his experience and ability to rise to the big occasion outweigh the other factors. He has either picked up five-wicket bags in finals (against Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra in 2008-09 and 2012-13, respectively) or scored crucial runs (87 against Karnataka in 2009-10).

Along with the duo, there is the hard-working Balwinder Singh Sandhu and senior all-rounder Abhishek Nayar to help Mumbai exploit the conditions without complaining much about the wicket.

But Saurashtra should not be taken lightly. Their only fear is that the toss does not become a factor in determining the titlist. For, they have a rejuvenated left-armer Jayadev Unadkat, who has been firing from all cylinders this season. Then there's fellow left-armer Hardik Rathod, who is only 13 first-class matches old but has proved to be more than a handy customer in seaming conditions like he showed in the quarterfinals and semifinals in Vizianagaram and Vadodara, respectively.

A good contest is what the teams are looking for with all departments of the game coming into play rather than what we saw in the T20 two weeks ago. 

And, this is a five-day final, in case you forgot.