Vijay Hazare trophy is important, but I want to set the Ranji Trophy record straight, says Vinayak Samant

It has been the nature of India’s domestic set-up to prioritise Ranji Trophy success over inter-state white-ball tournaments. This is particularly true for Mumbai cricket, who are seeking for redemption this season after their forgettable outing last time around. The same goes for their re-appointed head coach, Samant, under whom the team struggled to carry on the success from the Vijay Hazare trophy success into the red-ball season.

“It’s important to live in the present and focus on each game of the Vijay Hazare Trophy but I would certainly like the team to set the record straight in the Ranji Trophy,” Samant was quoted saying by Sportstar before the team left for Bengaluru.

But Mumbai enters the one-day tournament as one of the most under-prepared squads around. Samant, himself, only took charge less than a month ago and the team had their pre-season tournament in Nagpur washed out. But the coach is confident that his unit, which includes several international players, will overcome the challenge set before them.

“Surya (Yadav) is more caring and reads the game very well. Now that we have a current India one-day player for the whole tournament, Shreyas Iyer, the captain, it changes the equation altogether. His experience and his form will make a lot of difference,” Samant said.

“Shardul (Thakur), Dhawal (Kulkarni) and Tushar (Deshpande) — the three key pacers — are fit and available. And Shivam Dube is at his best in all the departments for India A. Besides, we have good youngsters — Yashasvi (Jaiswal) and Atharva (Ankolekar), so it’s a very good side. It’s important to back each other, something that we are working on. We have to keep the positive aspects of going and rectify the mistakes of the last season. Senior players need to be given more responsibility and backing, for instance,” Samant continued.

Last season’s failure was a combination of injuries, poor captaincy and team selection, and some careless batting by key batsmen. But Samant took up the responsibility for the team failing to qualify for the knockout stages, while also suggesting that a lack of support from selectors was a key reason for the mediocre season. 

“Actually, I was making mistakes. I realised later on that I should have ensured the players that I was backing didn’t lose their place in the side. But since I didn’t get the support a coach deserves, I was struggling to keep the players’ trust intact,” he said.

“It will not happen this year. With Milind Rege sir back as chief selector, there’s a collective effort to ensure we all are working together,” Samant added.