Ravi Shastri: Mumbai players taking things for granted

Ravi Shastri makes a point during the inter-club Police Shield prize distribution function at Police Gymkhana yesterday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri showed his displeasure at Mumbai's recent poor showing in domestic cricket and said that a casual approach and taking things for granted cannot be accepted. Shastri, a former Mumbai Ranji Trophy-winning skipper, urged Mumbai players "to respect the game." He was addressing a gathering as chief guest of the Police Shield prize distribution function at Police Gymkhana on Sunday.

‘Respect the game'

"First and foremost, I get the feeling a lot of people who play for Mumbai these days take things for granted. They think if you have a Mumbai stamp then we will win…this doesn't happen. You have to go and respect the game, respect work ethic, respect where you have come from and then go out and play as a team that is the Mumbai cricket team with pride," Shastri said. The Shams Mulani-led Mumbai side managed only a solitary win and failed to make it to the knockouts of the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently. And under Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy, Mumbai's challenge ended in the league stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in November.

Shastri also sounded hurt by the way Mumbai lost to Puducherry in Vijay Hazare Trophy. He said: "When I sometimes see scoresheets that show Pondicherry [Puducherry] beating Mumbai [by 18 runs] - not that they are an ordinary team [because] any team can beat any team on a day, but it tells you that there is a problem somewhere [in Mumbai cricket]. When you see a team like Himachal cruising through to the final, without any big names, and Mumbai not getting through and it has been for some time now, then you start asking questions," said Shastri, referring to Himachal's fine show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy which they clinched by beating Tamil Nadu in the final on Sunday.

Super Surya

However, the ex-India skipper lavished praise on India batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed an attacking double century (152-ball 249, 37x4, 5x6) in the Police Shield final. "The best thing that I liked was to see senior players from Mumbai coming and playing this tournament [Police Shield]. Someone like Suryakumar, who is with the Indian team now, with the Mumbai team, is a senior player, but when you have such players coming and playing these tournaments, it only gives confidence to the other players in that dressing room to emulate him and reach the heights he has achieved. And from Surya's point of view, I promise you, the 249 he got…the time he spent in the middle…the three-days he spent on the field, will stand him in good stead in bigger cricket later on in the year," Shastri remarked.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar made a fine gesture by presenting his prize money of R5,000 which he received as Best Batsman of the Final to Police Gymkhana groundsmen - Ramprakash Jaiswal, Lavkush Jaiswal and Surender Jaiswal. While congratulating Police Shield champions Parsee Gymkhana for winning three tournaments (Padmakar Talim Shield, Madhav Mantri Centenary One-Day League and Police Shield) in succession, Shastri urged defending champions and runners-up Payyade Sports Club to bounce back next year.

In a one-sided final, the Marine Drive team outclassed Payyade SC by 298 runs. Put in to bat, thanks to Suryakumar's attacking knock, Parsee Gym dominated the proceedings, scoring a mammoth 524-9 in 90 overs in the first innings. In reply, Payyade SC were bundled out for a mere 171 in 49 overs. Pacer Siddharth Raut and left-arm spinner Sagar Udeshi picked up four and three wickets respectively.

Sachin Yadav shines

Parsee Gym's Sachin Yadav, who scored 63 in the first innings, showed his class again in the second essay, smashing 53 with the help of four fours and three sixes. Left-arm pacers Royston Dias and Atif Attarwala claimed five and four wickets respectively for the losing side. Payyade SC, who needed 495 to win in 40 overs, managed 197 for the loss of six wickets.