Mumbai Cricket Association chief of selector Salil Ankola has said the inclusion of Arjun Tendulkar and others in the Ranji squad announced on Wednesday has been done keeping the future in mind. Arjun, son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, is part of the 20-member squad, led by Prithvi Shaw, for Mumbai’s first two Ranji matches against Maharashtra and Delhi.
Ankola said Arjun has been bowling well in the games he has played after recovering from injury. “Arjun (Tendulkar) has been bowling well, unfortunately, he was injured in between but he did well in whatever games he played thereafter. We have picked a team looking at the future of Mumbai cricket,” Ankola told The Indian Express.
He added, “Unfortunately Tushar Deshpande, our seamer, is injured but it’s a promising team. It’s a mixed team where we have picked players from under-19 and also who have been part of the Mumbai team for a few years.”
The Ranji Trophy gets underway from January 13.
Ankola said the team is a good mixture of young and senior players and is hopeful of a good season. Mumbai finished third in their pool during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and finished last in Group B of Vijay Hazare Trophy this season.
“There are a few young players like Prince Badiani, who did well in under 19 for us. We wanted to promote them and see how they do on the big stage. What we have seen is the players coming from under 19 have performed for the senior men team too. We are hopeful that the team will do well going ahead,” Ankola said.
