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Fifties from Dinesh Karthik and R Ashwin weren’t enough to prevent India A from slipping to a 43-run defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2018Shahbaz Nadeem celebrates a wicket•AFP

An unbeaten 87 from Hanuma Vihari and three top-order wickets from Shahbaz Nadeem helped India B make a winning start to their Deodhar Trophy campaign, as they defended 261 to beat India A by 43 runs. Nadeem, the left-arm spinner, took the new ball and struck with successive balls in his second over to send back Prithvi Shaw and Karun Nair, both lbw.India A’s top order continued to flounder until R Ashwin joined Dinesh Karthik at 87 for 5. The Tamil Nadu pair added 123 to bring parity back to the contest: at one stage, India A needed 52 from 47 balls with five wickets in hand.But Mayank Markande broke the partnership, having Ashwin stumped for 54 (76b, 5×4), and Nadeem dismissed Karthik in the very next over, having him caught and bowled one short of a hundred. Karthik’s 114-ball innings contained 11 fours and a six.India A’s lower order then collapsed against the legspin of Markande, who finished with figures of 4 for 48. The last five wickets only added eight runs to India A’s total.Ashwin had a good match with the ball too, finishing with figures of 2 for 39 in nine overs as India B, who chose to bat first, limped to 261 for 8 after threatening to post a much bigger total. Forties from Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer set up Vihari and Manoj Tiwary (52, 58b, 1×4, 2×6) to put on 99 for the fourth wicket. At one stage, India B were 194 for 3 with 12.4 overs remaining.The run-out dismissal of Tiwary, however, sparked a collapse. No one from No. 6 downwards got into double figures even as Vihari tried to keep the scoreboard moving at the other end. Following Tiwary’s dismissal, Vihari scored 39 off 30 balls to finish unbeaten on 87 (95b, 9×4). At the other end, India B’s lower order and extras combined to score only 28 off 45 balls. Even so, India B’s total of 261 for 8 proved more than adequate.

Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain feels he is regaining some of the old rhythm, and wants to add more skills to his repertoire

Andrew Fidel Fernando at the Premadasa30-Aug-2017His hauls may be lighter of late, and his pace may have diminished, but Sri Lanka’s acting captain Lasith Malinga remains defiant as ever of criticism, and has no plans to quit. In fact, he wants to continue adding skills to his bowling repertoire.Though Malinga is hardly Sri Lanka’s greatest concern, his figures since returning after a 19-month ODI layoff have not been impressive. He has taken eight wickets in 11 matches, at an average of 63.25. Where once top orders sought to see him off safely and score off the remaining bowlers, he does not inspire fear anymore. In Malinga’s defence, fielders have also dropped eight chances off his bowling. At least half of those were easy catches.”As a bowler, I’ve not been able to get wickets in the last couple of series,” Malinga said. “A lot of people have talked about that. In fact, there has been more talk in the last couple of months than in 14 previous years that I’ve played, but I’m used to that. But whenever someone is coming towards the end of their careers, there is failure. People talk about them not being fit enough, or not picking him.”Although his performances have not quite reflected it, Malinga himself felt he was regaining a little of his old rhythm. There have been glimpses of the old Malinga over the past two months – most recently, he dismissed Shikhar Dhawan with a short ball that jagged sharply back in.”I was out for 19 months, but now I feel I am getting better. Everyone knows how major my leg injuries are. Now that my leg is getting better, I’m doing all the treatment and all the rehabilitation. The fitness also is improving, and now I feel really comfortable to bowl 10 overs – I bowl consistently.”What’s more, he feels there are additions to be made to his game yet. At various points in the series, Malinga has been seen chatting to Zaheer Khan, who is commentating on the matches. They’ve spoken about their old days at Mumbai Indians together, and how Malinga’s body is still holding up, but also about what Malinga could do to regain his wicket-taking ability.”Zak [Zaheer] is more of a seam and swing bowler, and I want to learn more of that kind of thing over the next few years,” Malinga said. “That’s what I talked with him. Every time I have an opportunity, we speak about my bowling action, and how I have to improve. Because guys like him are in the commentary box, they look at every single one of my body movements and my bowling action, and how I swing the ball, and they have a good idea of how I’m going now.”

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2016
ScorecardJames Foster’s late hitting kept Essex afloat (file photo)•Getty Images

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.Essex had looked dead and buried when the ninth wicket fell with four overs remaining and 38 runs required. They still required 26 off the last two and 16 off the last, but with Foster seeing the ball like a football they clawed their way to a share of a thrilling contest.Wicketkeeper Alex Barrow gave Essex hope when he let past four byes from the first ball of the final over. Foster hit a four off the second ball and, after two dot balls, thumped a massive six over cow corner from the fifth ball. Then Foster and Matt Quinn scampered a bye to the wicketkeeper off the last ball as the rain returned.Foster finished with an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls, including eight fours and three sixes. He scored all the runs in a last-wicket stand of 37.Under Duckworth-Lewis calculations, Essex had been set a target of 177 – two runs less than Somerset had posted – in a match reduced first to 47 overs and then to 29 because of the weather.It initially looked as if Somerset’s Adam Hose was going to be the match-winner. The 23-year-old, who has yet to make a first-class appearance for Somerset, hit 77 off 83 balls, with 10 fours, to beat his previous List A best by 31 runs.Hose shared a third-wicket stand of 141 in exactly 20 overs with his captain Jim Allenby after Essex put the visitors in.When Essex batted, the heart was ripped out of their batting by a hostile opening spell by Tim Groenewald, who took three for 30, aided by Lewis Gregory, who snapped up two wickets in two balls and finished with four for 23.Just three overs were possible in the morning before rain stopped play, the fielders departing straight after David Masters claimed the prized scalp of Johannes Myburgh, caught at wide mid-off low down by Ravi Bopara for 7.When they resumed nearly three hours later, Peter Trego lasted just five balls on his 35th birthday before he got a massive edge to Masters and was caught at third man by Graham Napier.Hose and Allenby steadied the Somerset ship and then accelerated mid-innings. Hose grew in confidence the longer he batted and went past his previous highest List A score of 46 with a cut for four off Ryan ten Doeschate. He reached his half-century from 62 balls with a push through midwicket off Matt Quinn.Soon after, Allenby reached a 40-ball fifty when a single into the offside off ten Doeschate also brought up the century partnership in 15.4 overs. Later, he chipped Napier over Dan Lawrence’s head on the midwicket boundary for six as Somerset piled on the runs.Allenby fell on 68 when Bopara ran round at cow corner to take the catch sprawling on the ground 10 yards inside the boundary. The captain had batted, in all, for 52 balls and hit five fours and two sixes. Hose departed five runs later when he clipped Napier to Nick Browne at deep midwicket.James Hildreth had almost perished the ball before when Quinn dropped him at long-on. But Napier claimed a second wicket in the over when he bowled Hildreth before Bopara had Lewis Gregory chasing a wide delivery to be caught behind.Somerset lost six wickets while adding 22 late runs with Bopara mopping up with two in the final over for personal figures of 3 for 49. Jesse Ryder took a fine running catch on the midwicket boundary to dismiss Jamie Overton and substitute fielder Callum Taylor accounted for the other Overton, Craig, off a skier.Essex’s reply got off to a terrible start when Browne scooped the ball straight back into Groenewald’s hands in the first over.The South African then claimed wickets in each of his next two overs, having Ryder caught at second slip by Allenby and Tom Westley spooning a catch to Jamie Overton at mid-on.In the next over Lewis Gregory gained lbw decisions against Lawrence and ten Doeschate in successive balls to reduce Essex to 36 for 5.Bopara and Ashar Zaidi doubled the score in eight overs without ever being in control, before Zaidi was caught behind at the second attempt by Alex Barrow. Bopara didn’t last much longer, holing out tamely to Gregory at mid-on for 19.Foster, however, served notice of his fighting spirit when he lofted Jamie Overton over midwicket for successive sixes before reaching a 33-ball fifty. Napier had helped Foster put on 48 for the eighth wicket in 5.3 overs before misjudging a ball from Gregory to Craig Overton at mid-on.Masters gave Gregory his fourth wicket by squirting a catch to silly mid-on, but it did nothing to dampen Foster’s late pyrotechnics.

Tymal Mills could be forced to retire from first-class cricket after being diagnosed with a congenital back condition

George Dobell21-May-2015Tymal Mills could be forced to retire from first-class cricket after being diagnosed with a congenital back condition.Mills, who is thought to be the fastest bowler in English cricket, moved to Sussex from Essex over the winter and has been thought of as an England bowler of the near future. But, after breaking down in the early weeks of the season, he has been diagnosed as having a narrow spinal cord, which he has been warned could, in a worst case scenario, eventually cause substantial mobility problems if he continues to bowl.For a man with so much natural talent, who had started to find the accuracy to complement his pace, it is crushing news.”I have accepted that I might not have a future in first-class cricket,” Mills told ESPNcricinfo. “It is absolutely gutting and I had a very difficult 48 hours when I first heard the news.”I haven’t completely given up on the dream of playing Test cricket but, realistically, it looks as if my future may be in the shorter formats. I still want to play 50-over and T20 cricket.”Sussex have already announced that Mills will play no first-class cricket for a couple of months, but specialists have advised that he will probably have to limit his bowling load significantly if he is to enjoy a prolonged career.Mills bowled in Sussex’s NatWest T20 Blast victory over Gloucestershire on Sunday and took three wickets – all bowled – and could feature in the side to play Somerset on Friday. He is travelling with the squad and hopes to shake off a minor ankle injury.With that in mind, a career as a T20 specialist seems the most likely solution for a 22-year-old who, only weeks ago, was thought of as one of the most exciting prospects in England.”I just hope nobody portrays me as a mercenary,” Mills said. “This isn’t a case of me not wanting to bowl; it’s a case of me having a medical condition would could affect my future. It’s all been pretty hard to take.”

Stuart Broad has insisted that Kevin Pietersen will be welcomed back into the England dressing room

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2012Stuart Broad has insisted that Kevin Pietersen will be welcomed back to the England dressing room whenever the management decide the time is right for the batsman’s return.Pietersen is currently preparing for the Champions League T20 with Delhi Daredevils in South Africa. He is due to fly back to the UK for a round of meetings with senior England players as part of his ‘reintegration’ process that began when he signed a four-month contract last week.Broad said he had not spoken to Pietersen since the Headingley Test against South Africa, where the situation escalated following his post-match press conference and a few days later Pietersen was omitted for the final Test at Lord’s. If the next few weeks go smoothly, he is expected to return for the tour of India, after having been left out of the original squad.”I’d have no problems playing with him or having a beer with him. It’s not an issue,” Broad told reporters in London. “Once the England management has decided when he’s available to return, he’ll be welcomed back into the changing room.”We know he’s a great cricketer, he’s won a lot of trophies and has been a really good team-mate for England, certainly ever since I’ve been playing for them. We know that when KP’s focused on playing for England and he’s happy, he’s a really dangerous player.”Broad was also caught up in the controversy, when it involved the parody Twitter account that Pietersen took offence to under the belief that some of the England players were involved. Broad is friends with the person who admitted being behind it, Richard Bailey, but issued a statement denying any involvement in the account.”The team have no issues with KP coming back if the management decide he’s ready to,” Broad said. “It’s in their hands at the moment. There are some meetings going on behind closed doors and we’re waiting to see the outcome of those.”But from the team’s perspective his integration will be easy. Ultimately we’re playing cricket and we want guys who will score runs and take catches to help England win. Whatever’s happened has happened. We pride ourselves on being a strong dressing room and I’m sure that if he came back for India or New Zealand, or whenever it is, that things will be fine within the team.”Although Pietersen made himself available for all England cricket via a YouTube video the day before he was dropped – reversing his retirement from limited-overs cricket from earlier in the year – he followed the World Twenty20 from a TV studio rather than the dug-out as England were eliminated in the Super Eights stage.One of the major problems for England during the tournament was not being given a solid start in the Powerplays. In their first three matches, against Afghanistan, India and West Indies, they lost at least one wicket in the first over, and for the final Super Eights match against Sri Lanka, they juggled the batting order by omitting Craig Kieswetter.”It’s hard to tell if the results would had been different had he been there,” Broad said. “Obviously he’s a fantastic Twenty20 cricketer who did wonders for us when we won the World Twenty20 in 2010.”In June, when I found out he’d retired from the white-ball format, as captain I was hugely disappointed because I thought he’d be an integral part of our World Cup defence.”It would be hard for me to say we didn’t miss someone of his experience at the top of the order so I was disappointed when he did pull out. But the situation went towards the management side of things and it turned out he couldn’t be there.”

Jan Stander’s unbeaten century helped Scotland to a 2-0 lead in their Twenty20 series against Namibia, the Scots securing a 40-run win in the second match at Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2011
Scorecard
Jan Stander’s unbeaten century helped Scotland to a 2-0 lead in their Twenty20 series against Namibia, the Scots securing a 40-run win in the second match at Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek. Stander cracked nine fours and seven sixes in his 116, after which the Scottish attack kept the hosts to 190 for 7 despite Gerrie Snyman’s 43-ball 90.Both Stander and Snyman had played leading roles in the first match of the day, Snyman having hit an unbeaten 92 in his team’s six-wicket loss. Unsuccessful setting a total in the first game, Namibia opted to field in the second but once again the bowlers struggled after the early dismissal of Richie Berrington for 13.Stander shared in a 99-run partnership with Calum Macleod that took up only seven and a half overs to assert the dominance of bat over ball, and though Namibia managed to pick up wickets thereafter – the scoring rate never really dipped.Namibia’s reply got off to a stumbling start, Louis van der Westhuizen, Niel Rossouw and captain Craig Williams all departing inside the first four overs to leave the score at a shaky 33 for 3, Gordon Drummond doing much of the early damage. Namibia fought back through the efforts of Snyman and Sarel Burger, who put on 129 for the fourth wicket at better than 10 an over.As the match headed towards a tight finish, 20-year-old Scotland seamer Safyaan Sharif tipped the balance with a remarkable three-wicket burst in the 17th over. He started by picking up the vital wicket of Snyman, trapped lbw, before rattling the stumps of Christi Viljoen and Zhivago Groenewald with consecutive deliveries. It was a blow from which Namibia found it impossible to recover.

Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has finally managed to meet PCB chairman Ijaz Butt after several unsuccessful attempts earlier, regarding his appeal against the one-year ban imposed on him by the board

Cricinfo staff24-Sep-2010After several unsuccessful attempts, Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has finally met PCB chairman Ijaz Butt to plead his case against the one-year ban imposed on him by the board.”Friday’s meeting was good and I hope to get good news soon,” Naved told .However, Naved’s appeal, which was supposed to be heard on September 25 by the tribunal headed by retired Justice Irfan Qadir, has been adjourned again. “We will announce a new date on Saturday,” PCB lawyer Talib Rizvi said.Naved was one of seven players punished by the PCB after Pakistan’s winless tour of Australia earlier this year. He was fined Rs 2 million in addition to his one-year ban. The other six players have already had their bans revoked and fines lifted or reduced. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf, both of whom were banned, have since been recalled to the Pakistan side as well.Naved has played nine Tests, 74 ODIs and four Twenty20s for Pakistan. He said his county experience could have been useful on the recent England tour. “I have lot of cricket left in me and I am desperate to play for Pakistan. It was disappointing to see Pakistan lose on the England tour where I could have been successful because of my experience in county cricket.”

The left-handed opener compiled an impressively composed innings to leave his team in a strong position

AAP26-Nov-2024Campbell Kellaway scored his maiden Sheffield Shield century to put Victoria in the box seat of their pink-ball clash with Queensland at the Gabba.Queensland went to stumps on day three struggling at 58 for 3 chasing 329 for victory.  Kellaway made a seven-ball duck in Victoria’s sub-par first-innings total of 186. But the 22-year-old was in a class of his own in Victoria’s second innings, combining with Marcus Harris for a 154-run opening stand to catapult the visitors back into the contest.Related

• Harris helps keep game even after Bartlett boosts Queensland's lead

• 'Risk losing to try and win' – Ward's second fifty sets up Tasmania

Tom Rogers, Matt Short and Peter Handscomb also chipped in with handy knocks to help lift Victoria to an imposing 439.In reply, Queensland lost Matt Renshaw for a duck to 40-year-old veteran Peter Siddle in the first over of their run chase and they were 32 for 2 when Bryce Street fell for 7.Angus Lovell put up some resistance, but he was sent packing following a stunning one-handed catch by Short while he was running with the flight of the ball from slip to haul in a top-edged pull.Victoria started day three at 122 without loss in their second innings Harris was caught at slip off the bowling of Lovell, but Kellaway went on with the job to post his maiden Shield century.Kellaway’s 175-ball knock, which featured 14 boundaries, was finally brought to an end when he was bowled by Street in the final over before the dinner break.Queensland used eight bowlers in their bid to make inroads into Victoria’s strong batting line-up, but breakthroughs were few and far between

And can Ireland nullify any such calculations with their first win against India across formats?

Vishal Dikshit22-Aug-2023

Big Picture – Will Bumrah give chances to Jitesh, Shahbaz and Avesh?

India have largely achieved what they wanted from this Ireland series. Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have made excellent returns to form and fitness and have subsequently been drafted into the Asia Cup squad. Ruturaj Gaikwad has returned to the T20I set-up with one unbeaten knock and one quick half-century. Sanju Samson looked fluent during his 40 in the second T20I before Rinku Singh sparkled on what was effectively his debut. Shivam Dube has auditioned as the back-up for Hardik Pandya’s role – although he could do with some more wickets. And Ravi Bishnoi grabbed four wickets in the two games after going wicketless in his only outing in the Caribbean. And, India have the series in the bag.So now they can turn attentions to the players who’ve been on the bench in Malahide. Jitesh Sharma could be given his India cap and bat in the lower middle order with licence to showcase his hit-from-ball-one skills. Shahbaz Ahmed could also come in – confident after his haul of wickets in the Deodhar Trophy – to give India another all-round option while resting the more-established Washington Sundar. And Avesh Khan, once such a promising force with the white ball, could do with another chance to prove he has ironed out his flaws.Ireland will have to step up big time with both bat and ball to give India a fight. In the first game, they slumped to 59 for 6 against two bowlers returning from injury, who were not yet at their peak. Opting to bowl in the second match, all India’s batters bar one flourished, Ireland leaked too many in the death overs, and their top four batters – barring Andy Balbirnie – couldn’t find answers to Prasidh’s short balls and Bishnoi’s wrong ‘un.Related

• Avesh Khan ready for reboot after being 'all over the place'

Even if they leak runs again, which isn’t a crime in T20s, Ireland’s batters will have to shoulder most of the responsibility if they want to register their first win against India after ten unsuccessful attempts.

Form guide

India WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Ireland LLLWW

In the spotlight – Shivam Dube and Paul Stirling

Allrounder Shivam Dube had a second coming of sorts in the IPL this year with the bat. He had his most prolific season – 418 runs at a strike rate 158.33, including a whopping 35 sixes (second-most in IPL 2023), while also averaging 38. More than half of those runs and 22 of those 35 sixes came against spin, though, and the conditions in Ireland are as different as they could get from Chennai (his home base at the IPL) – soggy, overcast, and quicker, bouncier, greener tracks. He faced only pace in the second T20I and scored 22 not out off 16 balls. His challenge will be to score more off the short stuff should it come his way, and be a wicket-taking option in the middle overs in conditions that better suit him.Paul Stirling has been scoring all around the world in the last couple of years – in the Vitality Blast and the Hundred in England, at the Lanka Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, the Caribbean Premier League and the SA20, apart from in international cricket. He
took the added responsibility of the captaincy from Balbirnie in July, but he hasn’t scored much against the No. 1 T20I side in this series. He fell to Bishnoi’s googly in the series opener before being bounced out by Prasidh for a duck and, with Ireland’s batting under pressure, Stirling will be eager to end the series with a significant contribution.

Team news – Will Theo van Woerkom get a debut?

Samson could hand over the wicketkeeper-batter reins to Jitesh, Shahbaz could come in for Washington, and Avesh for Arshdeep Singh, since Bumrah and Prasidh would want more game time before the Asia Cup. The only question would be whether India would want to make as many as three changes.India (possible XI): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Sanju Samson/Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Jasprit Bumrah (capt), 11 Prasidh Krishna.Ireland have used the same XI in both games and, with nothing more to lose, they could also hand a debut to Christchurch-born left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom. He was part of New Zealand’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2012 but has qualified for Ireland, with an Irish background on his mother’s side. He could come in for legspinner Ben White. They could also try out Ross Adair (Mark Adair’s brother) at the top or batting allrounder Gareth Delany in the middle.Ireland (possible XI): 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Mark Adair, 8 Barry McCarthy, 9 Fionn Hand/Craig Young, 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben White/Theo van Woerkom.

Stats and trivia

• Paul Stirling is fifth among the all-time T20I run-scorers, behind the high-profile names of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill and Babar Azam. He will overtake Babar on Wednesday if he scores more than 77.
• Bumrah’s economy rate in this series so far is just 4.88 – no other bowler has gone at under six an over.

Pitch and conditions

Wednesday is expected to be mildly sunny in patches, with more of cloud cover and windiness and some rain expected. The temperature is expected to settle just under 20 degrees Celsius. There are more chances of rain later in the evening especially so, with a 3pm local time start, we should get a completed game squeezed in, even if it is interrupted.

He insists that the final won’t be about Muzumdar vs Pandit and wants the spotlight to be firmly on the players

Shashank Kishore21-Jun-2022The Mumbai team haven’t had lengthy meetings. There have been no long messages or speeches either. Players have been left to prepare the way they want to and figure out what works best for them and what doesn’t. This doesn’t mean the players have been left to fend for themselves. It’s just a way to make players more responsible for their own actions.Amol Muzumdar, the man guiding them, has seen it all during a two-decade-long first-class career. Even as a player, he invariably played the role of a mentor towards the end of his career, especially once he left Mumbai to play for Assam and Andhra. He has also been involved with Netherlands, South Africa and in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals. Much of his coaching philosophy is born from his varied experiences in cricket.Muzumdar is clear this is not about him. He has won the Ranji Trophy as a captain and has been part of several title-winning teams. His opposite number, Chandrakant Pandit, has had a tremendous track record as coach, plotting title wins with Mumbai and Vidarbha in the past. Now, he is looking to shepherd Madhya Pradesh to their first title.Muzumdar and Pandit are old friends and team-mates. The mutual respect is evident, but the competitive streak hasn’t been lost. Muzumdar is mindful of not wanting to make this Mumbai vs Pandit or Muzumdar vs Pandit, as tempting as it may be to hype up the match along those lines.”It’s all about the players,” he stated firmly on the eve of the match. “Of course, every team has its own engine room, but at the same time the main focus has to be the players. He [Pandit] is a proven customer. This is my first season [as coach]; his must be the umpteenth season. I wouldn’t like to compare. He has been there, done that.”Muzumdar spelt out his priorities clearly the day he was appointed head coach in June 2021. “Getting back on track in red-ball cricket” was written in bold. Through the course of a Covid-shortened season, the focus was on building a core group of young players who could serve Mumbai cricket for many years to come. And so far, the signs are promising.This will be Mumbai’s first appearance in a Ranji final since 2016-17•Special Arrangement

“When I took up this job, all the entire association asked about was getting back in red-ball cricket,” he said. “That was our main focus. Coming so far, we’ve slightly tried to achieve that. Credit to the boys, they’re on track. Red-ball cricket was a concern for everyone from Mumbai. Looking at the last five-six years, even you guys [journalists] must have thought so.”But the guys have done splendidly well. The focus was on how to get gen-next hooked on to deliver in Ranji Trophy. With this kind of performance, we’re pushing towards it. I am certain these guys would serve Mumbai for a long time.”Yashasvi Jaiswal has only featured in three first-class games but has already racked up three hundreds. Prithvi Shaw’s talent has never been in question; he remains the “leader of the pack” even if his temperament for long-form cricket and technical adjustments remain focus areas.Suved Parkar missed out on a chance to represent India at the Under-19 World Cup two years ago but comes into the final with a reputation of being a marathon batter, much like Muzumdar. Then there’s Armaan Jaffer, a prolific age-group run-getter who has finally brought all that promise to the first-class level with a maiden century in the semi-finals.Sarfaraz Khan’s form has been pandemic-proof; he leads this shortened season’s run-charts by a mile with 803 runs in seven innings, including three hundreds. He is 297 runs ahead of Rajat Patidar, his nearest competitor in the final. This hunger for big runs in the dressing room augurs well for the future. Muzumdar underlines the culture and “processes” – that boring cliche – for helping bring about a change in mindset that first-class cricket is as important as the IPL.”I personally believe it is about the process and culture you have in the dressing room and automatically players will buy into that,” he said. “We’ve tried to do that, almost all of the [players] have bought into the future. Yes, IPL is a culture where people go in and play but they shouldn’t forget their roots, which is domestic cricket.”