Five points from four games. Sixteenth among 18 teams. Any team would be thinking of avoiding relegation. Not Mumbai, though, as stand-in captain Siddhesh Lad put on a brave front and stated he and his teammates could still deliver.
“As captain I always want to be positive. We have four games left. Nothing is impossible. We have done it before, we have won four in four, so yes (we can do it),” Lad said after Mumbai struggled to a draw after conceding the first-innings lead to Maharashtra.
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“I hope Dhawal (Kulkarni) will be back for the next game. He is an experienced bowler and can guide our youngsters.”
At least twice over the last decade Mumbai has found itself staring at relegation mid-way through the league. However, both times — 2006-07 and 2014-15 — the team made it to the knockouts, winning the title in 2006-07 while making it to the semifinals the second time.
The young Mumbai bowling unit — the five specialist bowlers sharing 15 caps — failed to use the first-day pitch to its advantage. Lad admitted Mumbai let the game slip on the first day.
Inexperience
“Inexperience showed. We made several mistakes on the first day, but came back strongly. That is what needs to be done,” he said.
“As a leader, I could have guided them better in the first innings. We had a great comeback but somewhere I was founding in guiding them,” he said.
“We could have done better but it’s a learning curve for our young team,” said Lad about his debut match as captain.
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