After collecting 14 points from two convincing wins at the start of the season, Siddhesh Lad-led Mumbai will aim for another outright victory when they take on Haryana at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla Complex ground today.
India pacer Shardul Thakur, who is recovering from a finger injury, will have to wait a few more days before returning to action, with Rajesh Pawar-led Mumbai’s senior selection committee retaining the same squad that featured against Himachal Pradesh in the previous game.
Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand, who struck his fourth first-class century — an unbeaten 117 against HP — in his 14th match, said the team’s sole focus is on winning the Ranji Trophy rather than individual milestones.
“At the moment, I haven’t thought about it . Currently, we are just thinking about how to reach the semi-final and final. We have got a good start this season and are aiming for our 43rd Ranji title. So, our focus is on that only. If we [as a team] do well and if I, as an individual, do well, it will happen. But our focus is on winning,” Akash said on the eve of Monday’s match, when asked whether he believed the national selectors were watching his performances.
The 31-year-old, who admires South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s effortless glovework and AB de Villiers’s consistency across formats, believes combining wicketkeeping and batting gives him a significant advantage. “It’s tough at the beginning, but later on, I think it becomes an advantage because you get a first-hand view behind the stumps of how the pitch is behaving. So, it helps during batting if I do the keeping first. Similarly, if I bat first, it helps me advise the bowlers on the lengths they should bowl. So, right now, it’s more of an advantage,” Akash explained.
Meanwhile, Ankit Kumar-led Haryana, who have collected 13 points from two wins in Elite Group D, will look to give Mumbai a tough fight on their home turf.
Former India U-19 captain Ashok Menaria, who is currently mentoring Haryana’s Ranji Trophy team, praised his players for their strong mindset and discipline. “These [Haryana players] eat vegetarian food and win gold medals in wrestling. They’re different. They are very sweet; they won’t indulge in sledging.
They’ll only taunt each other. But they won’t say anything to opponents, and they expect no one to say anything to them. They are very disciplined,” said Menaria, who has previously led Rajasthan and Haryana in the Ranji Trophy.