Mumbai suffered a humiliating 361-run defeat against Rest of India XI in the Irani Trophy here yesterday.
Mumbai suffered a humiliating 361-run defeat against Rest of India XI in the Irani Trophy here yesterday.
|
| Rest of India XI skipper Yuvraj Singh holds the Irani Trophy in Jaipur yesterday. Pic/kamal julka |
However, Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer is confident that the Ranji Trophy champions would iron out their flaws and bounce back to defend the Ranji title.
"The Irani Trophy was only one match, but we would get seven to eight matches in the Ranji Trophy. We can rediscover ourselves with the time on hand," said Jaffer.
Chasing an improbable target of 782 to win at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Mumbai were skittled out for 420, thanks to a clinical display by ROI off-spinner R Ashwin (5-106) and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (4-113).
Mumbai's Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a gutsy 191, and Jaffer, who cracked 88, could only delay the inevitable defeat.
A dejected Jaffer conceded that Mumbai was on the backfoot after losing the toss. "We were struggling right from the start after losing the toss and they put up more than 600 runs on the board. Ajinkya and I had a good outing. Except, Dhawal Kulkarni, our bowling wasn't impressive. Rest of India were superb and they thoroughly deserved the win," said the India opener. Injury to strike bowler Ajit Agarkar only made matters worse for Mumbai.
