B. Arun: 'We go out with a lot of positives'

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare, however, could afford a grin on his face. "Creditable to make it to a Ranji semi-final, isn’t it?" Tare said, adding the last morning’s two-hour session was as tense as he had expected it to be.

Aditya Tare was happy that Abhishek Nayar stayed till the end and finished the game for Mumbai.

Even after his wards closed out the quarterfinal against Hyderabad, Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit hardly had a smile on his face, even when the team posed for a photograph for the host association. Considering that Mumbai continued to perform below-par, Pandit’s mood was understandable.

Mumbai captain Aditya Tare, however, could afford a grin on his face. “Creditable to make it to a Ranji semi-final, isn’t it?” Tare said, adding the last morning’s two-hour session was as tense as he had expected it to be.

“Yesterday I thought we had breathing space. It had started getting closer but in the end we nicked off those four wickets. That brought us closer to the finish. This morning, I expected them to come hard at us. The partnership built by both the left-handers was crucial. We are happy that (Abhishek) Nayar stood up and finished the game for us,” he said.

Despite seeing an end to what will hopefully be a game-changing season for Hyderabad, coach B. Arun had every reason to be proud of his team’s performance. “The inexperience of the team surfaced in this match. We have had an outstanding season and hence the boys can go out with their heads held high,” he said.

“If they can learn quickly from the mistakes committed, they can be a force to reckon with in the coming years. This is a young side but they have shown great hunger and discipline thus far. If you look at this match, we had Mumbai under constant pressure. Even today, we had them on ropes for quite some time. We go out with a lot of positives.”