Ranji Trophy: Aditya Tare advocates fearless cricket for Mumbai

UP captain Ankit Rajpoot (left) with Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare on Saturday. Pic/Subodh Mayure

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare wants his Ranji Trophy team to play fearless cricket when they clash with Uttar Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium from Sunday.

Mumbai have earned nine points in four games after kicking off the season with a 309-run win over Baroda. What followed were two outright defeats against Railways and Karnataka before a draw against Tamil Nadu in Chennai last week.

"We are still thinking of lifting that cup, that's the ultimate motto. We are going to give everything to make that happen. We've got our backs to the wall, but we know that playing aggressive, positive cricket is the way forward. I want the team to be fearless as if we have nothing to lose," Tare said after the team's practice session on Saturday.

Meanwhile, UP will depend on Mohammed Saif (457 runs), Almas Shaukat (323), left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (32 wickets) and skipper pacer Ankit Rajpoot (13 wickets). Having triumphed over Saurashtra in their third league game, the 2005-06 champions are better than Mumbai with 13 points in five games.

Gloom enveloped the Mumbai camp due to the passing away of coach Vinayak Samant's mother (Rageshree, 68), due to a prolonged illness last week. Samant was seen guiding the Mumbai team during their practice at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. He will miss the 10th day ritual on Monday as it will clash with the second day of the Ranji Trophy game.

"She loved cricket very much. Whatever I am today is because of her support. She was a music teacher at Shardashram Vidyamandir and always encouraged me to play cricket; always urged me not to miss a single day of practice," Samant told Sunday mid-day.

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