Ajinkya Rahane, the Mumbai captain, has stressed Shreyas Iyer does not need any advice ahead of the Ranji Trophy semifinal despite the tricky circumstances the younger batter finds himself in.
“He is an experienced player, we all know that. His contribution to Mumbai has been amazing. Whenever he stands up for Mumbai, he has done really well, so I don’t think he needs any encouragement or any advice,” Rahane said on Friday, the eve of Mumbai’s Ranji semifinal against Tamil Nadu.
“We are thrilled to have him in our team for the semifinal because a player like him - contribution with the bat and also (to be) around the players - will really help.”
Shreyas was not considered for the BCCI central contracts after making himself unavailable for the Ranji Trophy since being excluded from India’s Test squad after the second Test against England last month.
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While Shreyas will have personal interest in helping Mumbai make the Ranji Trophy final, Tamil Nadu will be bolstered with the presence of B. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar.
Captain R. Sai Kishore was looking forward to the duo, which has been with the India and India ‘A’ set-up for the majority of the domestic season.
“Those two have worked hard in domestic and have gone there. They realise how important it is to show up here. We have played together for so many years, we are happy that they are in the team. Usually, when the star India players come back in the team, it can be a headache also. But with Washy and Sai there, we are actually boosted,” said Kishore.
Former Mumbai stalwart Sulakshan Kulkarni, who is Tamil Nadu’s head coach now, claimed that Mumbai cricket was at his fingertips and that his in-depth knowledge about Mumbai cricket will come in handy for the visiting team.
“I know each and every (player’s) positives and negatives,” Kulkarni said. “We respect our opponents a lot because they have a big legacy, but we will have a good game. They are playing well, which is why they have reached so far.”
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Besides playing a valiant knock of an unbeaten 84 in Mumbai’s maiden knockout loss to Tamil Nadu in the 1995-96 quarterfinal, Kulkarni was also the Mumbai U-19 coach during Rahane’s formative years.
Mumbai head coach Omkar Salvi also learnt the basics of cricket at Kulkarni’s clinic in Thane.
Rahane stressed that the proximity will be kept at a distance during the course of the semifinal.
“I have fond memories of playing under him at U-19, then he was with Indian Oil as well. But right now, he is in the opposing dressing room. We will maintain the distance for the next five days,” he said.
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