MUMBAI: Left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar, the son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, received his maiden call-up into the Mumbai’s senior Ranji Trophy squad when the selectors named the squad for the first two games, against Maharashtra (from January 13) and Delhi (January 20), on Wednesday. The 20-member outfit will be captained by dashing opener Prithvi Shaw, who had led Mumbai to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title in March.
“It is an honour to be selected to represent Mumbai in the prestigious Ranji Trophy. It is a dream come true for me. I am eagerly looking forward to giving my best for the team,” Arjun Tendulkar told TOI.
The 22-year-old was first picked for Mumbai for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January this year as one of the two additional players, and played two games, in which he picked two wickets and scored three runs. In February, he was picked up in the auction by the Mumbai Indians, though he hasn’t made his IPL debut so far. Arjun’s selection in the Mumbai team was perhaps also helped by the fact that seamer Tushar Deshpande is out due to a bad rib injury (he has fractured two of his ribs), which forced him to miss the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Asked about Arjun’s selection, Mumbai chief selector Salil Ankola told this paper: “I don’t understand this sole focus on Arjun, just because he’s Tendulkar’s son. Our focus was on picking youngsters to give a new look to the team. He’s talented and has been performing well, did well for the Mumbai under-19 team a couple of years back. He scored 85 off 60 balls yesterday (in the Under-25 Shalini Bhalekar Trophy) and took four wickets around a week back in a local tournament. It was a unanimous selection, and the captain (Shaw) also attended the meeting. With Tushar not being there, we needed a few options.”
Meanwhile, the former India pacer revealed that “Prithvi will be the Mumbai captain for the entire Ranji season.”
Experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare, who was excluded from the team for Vijay Hazare, has been recalled. Seamer Prince Badiani, who’s been doing well for the Mumbai under-19 side in the Cooch Behar Trophy, too has received his maiden Ranji call-up. His teammate Musheer Khan, who’s produced a fine allround show (25 wickets & 303 runs) in Cooch Behar, and pacer Atif Attarwala, who didn’t get a game in the Vijay Hazare despite being a part of the squad, were unlucky to miss out.
Explaining why the squad has been picked only for the first two matches, Ankola explained: “There was a school of thought that considering the present situation, we should pick the squad for all the five league games. Ajinkya Rahane might be available (after returning from South Africa). Then, Tushar might regain his fitness later after proper rest and recovery, but he needs to be 100% fit.”
Placed in Elite Group C in Kolkata with Karnataka, Delhi, Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, Mumbai, who have fared disastrously in both the white-ball tournaments this season, will launch their Ranji Trophy campaign against Maharashtra in Kolkata — where they play all their five league games — on January 13.
He expressed concern at the form of allrounder Shivam Dube, who scored just 39 runs in four games and conceded 89 runs in 11 overs without taking a wicket in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “Hopefully he clicks. He’s been out of form. He’s been an India player, after all. I’m hoping that Tare does well too. A team cannot be a team without senior players,” said Ankola.
The squad:
Prithvi Shaw (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arman Jaffer, Aakarshit Gomel, Sachin Yadav, Aditya Tare, Hardik Tamore, Shivam Dube, Aman Khan, Shashank Attarde, Arjun Tendulkar, Royston Dias, Siddarth Raut, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Mohit Awasthi, Sarfaraj Khan, Prince Badiani, Prashant Solanki.
“It is an honour to be selected to represent Mumbai in the prestigious Ranji Trophy. It is a dream come true for me. I am eagerly looking forward to giving my best for the team,” Arjun Tendulkar told TOI.
The 22-year-old was first picked for Mumbai for the Mushtaq Ali Trophy in January this year as one of the two additional players, and played two games, in which he picked two wickets and scored three runs. In February, he was picked up in the auction by the Mumbai Indians, though he hasn’t made his IPL debut so far. Arjun’s selection in the Mumbai team was perhaps also helped by the fact that seamer Tushar Deshpande is out due to a bad rib injury (he has fractured two of his ribs), which forced him to miss the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Asked about Arjun’s selection, Mumbai chief selector Salil Ankola told this paper: “I don’t understand this sole focus on Arjun, just because he’s Tendulkar’s son. Our focus was on picking youngsters to give a new look to the team. He’s talented and has been performing well, did well for the Mumbai under-19 team a couple of years back. He scored 85 off 60 balls yesterday (in the Under-25 Shalini Bhalekar Trophy) and took four wickets around a week back in a local tournament. It was a unanimous selection, and the captain (Shaw) also attended the meeting. With Tushar not being there, we needed a few options.”
Meanwhile, the former India pacer revealed that “Prithvi will be the Mumbai captain for the entire Ranji season.”
Experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare, who was excluded from the team for Vijay Hazare, has been recalled. Seamer Prince Badiani, who’s been doing well for the Mumbai under-19 side in the Cooch Behar Trophy, too has received his maiden Ranji call-up. His teammate Musheer Khan, who’s produced a fine allround show (25 wickets & 303 runs) in Cooch Behar, and pacer Atif Attarwala, who didn’t get a game in the Vijay Hazare despite being a part of the squad, were unlucky to miss out.
Explaining why the squad has been picked only for the first two matches, Ankola explained: “There was a school of thought that considering the present situation, we should pick the squad for all the five league games. Ajinkya Rahane might be available (after returning from South Africa). Then, Tushar might regain his fitness later after proper rest and recovery, but he needs to be 100% fit.”
Placed in Elite Group C in Kolkata with Karnataka, Delhi, Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, Mumbai, who have fared disastrously in both the white-ball tournaments this season, will launch their Ranji Trophy campaign against Maharashtra in Kolkata — where they play all their five league games — on January 13.
He expressed concern at the form of allrounder Shivam Dube, who scored just 39 runs in four games and conceded 89 runs in 11 overs without taking a wicket in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “Hopefully he clicks. He’s been out of form. He’s been an India player, after all. I’m hoping that Tare does well too. A team cannot be a team without senior players,” said Ankola.
The squad:
Prithvi Shaw (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arman Jaffer, Aakarshit Gomel, Sachin Yadav, Aditya Tare, Hardik Tamore, Shivam Dube, Aman Khan, Shashank Attarde, Arjun Tendulkar, Royston Dias, Siddarth Raut, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Mohit Awasthi, Sarfaraj Khan, Prince Badiani, Prashant Solanki.
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