Mind over matter for Mumbai’s new coach Amol Muzumdar

Former Mumbai captain Amol Muzumdar 46 is ready to face new challenges which will come his way as new coach of the senior Mumbai team Muzumdar who scored most of his 11167 firstclass runs under the Mumbai lioncrested headgear was appointed coach for the next domestic seasonThe batting stalwart who wore India A colours in the 1990s wants to lay ample emphasis on the mental aspect of his teamAmol accepts challengeldquoIt will be a challenge but I was used to taking on such challenges while playing and even after retirement Thatrsquos why I decided to enter this field and accepted the challenge It is important to do things together the way we did so during our playing days To try my best is in my hands and I will do just thatrdquo Muzumdar told midday on TuesdayMuzumdar who earlier guided the South African national team and IPL side Rajasthan Royals as a batting coach wants to make full use of the current offseasonWhen asked about his plans he remarked ldquoSports psychology is a part of cricket now It is vital to know the importance and benefits of new things I would definitely like to use sports psychology It depends from person to person case to case but it is important If itrsquos going to benefit upcoming players why notrdquo Mumbai last won the Ranji Trophy in 201516 and Muzumdar is well aware of the expectations and pressure that come with his new responsibility ldquoI represented Mumbai for 16 years and we won the Ranji Trophy championship eight times in those years So it pressure is not new to me I am looking at it as another challenge Mumbai are known for their hardworking attitude and I will continue to work in that manner It is important to keep the bonding going and I will concentrate on thatrdquo said Muzumdar who helped Mumbai emerge Ranji Trophy champions in his first year as captain in 200607 Former national selector and Mumbai Cricket Associationrsquos MCA Cricket Improvement Committee CIC chief Jatin Paranjape said it was a tough task to appoint the Mumbai coachFormer India cricketers like Balvinder Singh Sandhu Wasim Jaffer Sairaj Bahutule and exMumbai Ranji Trophywinning coach Sulakshan Kulkarni were the other contenders for the job Paranjape and fellow CIC members also exIndia cricketers Vinod Kambli and Nilesh Kulkarni went for MuzumdarlsquoIt was a tough jobrsquoldquoIt was a tough job but I think all three of us thought that Amol is the best guy for the job He has seen some of the best days and some tough days of Mumbai cricket He has scored 11000 firstclass runs nobody can question that He has a certain standing and he is an out and out Mumbai manrdquo said Paranjape The CICrsquos next task is to appoint an academy head for MCArsquos BandraKurla Complex indoor facility and selectorsAlso Read Coach Ramesh Powar backs Shafali Verma to shine on England tour