Assam-bound Muzumdar recalls Mumbai highs and lows
"Even if I go to Assam I will always remain a Mumbai player," was how veteran Amol Muzumdar summed up his feelings after deciding to "move on" from Mumbai and play for Assam after 16 years of first-class cricket with the domestic giants.
"I was disappointed with the Buchi Babu selection. For the pre-season tournament I didn't make the first 15, so from a player's perspective, I felt it was time to make the move," he said.
"Even I am of the opinion that the youngsters have to be promoted. There's no denying it. All I feel is that the whole thing could have been handled in a much better way," Muzumdar told MiD DAY yesterday. However, Muzumdar made it clear that he wasn't leaving on a sore note. "Whatever I am today is only because of Mumbai cricket," he said, thanking all his "friends, supporters and well-wishers".
And when MiD DAY asked him for his best and worst for Mumbai, this is what Muzumdar came up with:
Most memorable moments
* The picture, which is embossed in my mind, is Ravi Shastri lifting the Ranji Trophy in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium in '93-94. As a 19-year-old who was playing his debut first-class season, being part of a Ranji-winning team was a magical moment for me.
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* The semi-final against Madhya Pradesh at Indore in '96-97 is very close to my heart. I happened to score a hundred against a great team led by Chandrakant Pandit. It was a high-pressure game and we won it.
* The 2006-07 semi-final against Baroda in Vadodara is special. That game will always remain close to my heart because all the youngsters were focussed and played like champions. And while leading the side, I contributed with 97 in the first innings. And it will also be close to my heart since I surpassed Ashok Mankad's record to become Mumbai's highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy.
*u00a0The 2006-07 season when I was the captain was very special since we came out of nowhere to win the Ranji Trophy. It took me a while to get down from the high since that season was a topsy-turvy one.
* Winning is something in a cricketer's life. Especially in the Mumbai dressing room, if you win, the celebrations are memorable. And that's what you play for rather than personal milestones. One such celebration I would never ever forget was when we celebrated our Ranji Trophy victory on the night of the penultimate day's play in Hyderabad last year. With Sachin (Tendulkar) joining all of us, we all had an unforgettable party.
Most forgettable moments
* The logo issue that happened in 2001 (ahead of Mumbai's tour to Australia) when I was the captain of Mumbai and was not allowed to board the flight at the airport. They told me to go home.
* When we lost to Tamil Nadu in the quarter-final at Tirunelveli in my third season. We won the Ranji Trophy in my first two seasons, so that was my first Ranji defeat and it came as a shock to me. I literally shed tears in my room after the loss. It was hard to believe that Mumbai have lost.
* When we didn't qualify for the knock-out stage when I was captain in 2007-08.
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