Mumbai chief selector was unhappy with senior India players after their disastrous outing in the Ranji Trophy.
Sanjay Patil, the chief selector of Mumbai cricket team, has expressed unhappiness over how senior India players failed to impress in the Ranji Trophy, where Mumbai were knocked out in the semi-finals. Mumbai suffered an 80-run loss to Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals which eventually ended their title defence. Vidarbha had set Mumbai a target of 406 but Mumbai managed to score just 325 runs, with all-rounder Shardul Thakur top-scoring with 66 runs.
After India’s horror Test series against New Zealand at home and Australia away, the BCCI had made it mandatory for centrally-contracted players to play domestic cricket while not featuring for the national side. “Firstly, I congratulate Ajit Agarkar (chief national selector), Jay Shah (former BCCI secretary) and all the BCCI authorities who forced all the big cricketers to represent their respective state teams. Every cricketer owes most of his achievements to his own state,” Patil was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“But whenever all the internationals were made to play domestic cricket, they merely participated in these games instead of being involved. The legacy of Mumbai cricket – especially when it comes to international stars’ involvement in Mumbai cricket – was not at all seen and it needs to be fixed.”
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He added that a majority of players just played Ranji Trophy for the sake of doing so. “I have a request for the association to make sure the international stars are made aware of it. Otherwise, it becomes unfair on the team and the rising stars. Our association has always stood by us but had no option due to the BCCI diktat. They were asked to play and they did, mostly for the sake of it.”
“All of them should have been monitored by the Indian national selection committee. If you see, all of them only participated, but didn’t really perform. And it reflects in their team’s performance,” he explained.
Ajinkya Rahane led Mumbai in the semi-finals but endured scores of 18 and 12 with the bat. The side also featured Suryakumar Yadav, who was out for a duck an 23 runs in each of his innings. Shivam Dube was also dismissed for a nought in the first innings before managing just 12 runs in the second. To an extent, Shardul Thakur was the only silver lining in the semi-final for Mumbai. He took two wickets and played vital knocks of 37 and 66 with the bat.
“[I am] Very upset with the way they played [in the Ranji Trophy]. It was something that’s not expected from Test players and the so-called Indian cricketers. The kind of dedication we experienced from our seniors was never on display from the current lot. If you are joining the team and are happy only to be signing autographs, it speaks volumes about you,” he elaborated.
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