Rohit Sharma drove his black Range Rover into the Cricket Centre, which houses the Board’s headquarters, almost concurrently with the arrival of Mumbai Indians’ team bus at the Wankhede.
The India captain, though, was in no mood to practice; casually dressed in a pair of jeans and an India T-shirt, he arrived more than an hour behind schedule for the news conference involving India’s selection for the T20 World Cup with chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
An hour later, he alighted from the dressing room stairs to be greeted by Kolkata Knight Riders captain Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh. Rohit spent a good few minutes with Rinku, perhaps trying to convince him that his exclusion from the World Cup XV had more to do about restoring balance in the side.
Minutes earlier, Agarkar had remarked that Rinku’s exclusion was one of the “toughest” decisions and that the left-handed finisher “had done nothing wrong”.
The trailer to Friday’s Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders match was more about the misses and near misses when it came to making the World Cup squad.
Even Shreyas, a regular in all formats till last year, was left out though he was never in the reckoning. KKR assisant coach Abhishek Nayar, who has also worked with him individually, couldn’t stop revealing how sportingly he has taken it in his stride.
“Having known him for a really long time, without any bias, he is one of the strongest people mentally... I would have seen a lot of people cribbing and talking about it, but I haven’t heard him whine about it or complain... He has approached life in a positive manner...” Nayar said.
“His fitness is in his control, and he is feeling a lot better now. He is in great shape on the field, he is batting longer hours... Mentally to have a mindset like that after being rejected or not getting his due, he has taken it very positively.”
The Knights will only benefit if the duo take up the challenge to prove that they are still the best in the business. Shreyas’ men need two more victories from their five remaining matches to confirm their playoffs berth.
Bowling though remains a problem, having lost matches even after recording totals of 223 and 261. To make it tougher, KKR will be without Harshit Rana, their joint highest wicket-taker — 11 scalps — with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.
The pacer was suspended for one match for breaching the code of conduct against Delhi Capitals.
Mumbai Indians are virtually out of the playoffs race and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if they decide to rest a regular like Jasprit Bumrah to manage his workload. The hosts have an awesome record against KKR at their home ground having won nine of their 10 meetings since 2013.
Can the Knights turn the tide in their principal owner Shah Rukh Khan’s territory? The Mitchell Starc-led pace attack will hold the key on the bouncier Wankhede wicket.
