Batters are in IPL mode: Milind Rege

Mumbai pacer Tushar Deshpande celebrates a TN wicket yesterday. Pic/PTI

When we could well have been 200-2, Mumbai are 183 for six." That's not the only regret former Mumbai captain Milind Rege had after watching Day One of the Mumbai v Tamil Nadu Elite Group ‘B' Ranji Trophy game at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday.

It was a day on which 16 wickets fell and Rege's big tick on the pitch has merit considering he figured in several first-class games at the CCI and played a good part of his club cricket career there. "It is a perfectly true wicket," he stressed. Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 144, to which Mumbai replied not so favourably to end up six down.

Milind Rege

"[Pacer] Tushar Deshpande bowled well. He got lift, bounce and pace from the track and [left-arm spinner] Shams Mulani was spot on as usual," remarked Rege. "Sad to say that most of the batsmen are in IPL mode. They just don't want to stick around, rough it out and to play a big innings," stressed Rege, a former Mumbai chairman of selectors.

Also Read: Ranji Trophy: Not for the faint-hearted!

The former all-rounder reckoned the Mumbai batting should have been more purposeful. A big innings in 2022-23 eludes Prithvi Shaw (35). His talented opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for a duck. Captain Rahane played beautifully, but his dismissal for 42 led to a gloomy scoreboard - 90 for four. Mulani was his usual self, gritty, positive and useful. He clubbed 28 runs with the help of four fours and a six. Sarfaraz Khan (batting 46) played with the right attitude according to Rege. "The quality I love about Sarfaraz is that he will fight it out. He doesn't give up unlike other talented batsmen. It's this quality that sets him apart," said Rege.

Aswin Crist, the medium pacer claimed three of the six Mumbai wickets to fall.