Dilip Vengsarkar slams Mumbai’s poor fielding after Ranji Trophy exit

Mumbai skipper Shardul Thakur kicks out in frustration as Karnataka’s KL Rahul is dropped at slip during the Ranji Trophy quarter-final on Monday

“I feel we were on the verge of winning [Ranji Trophy] for the 43rd time, but it was not to be. And when we look into what went wrong, one of the first things that come to mind is poor fielding and poor catching,” Vengsarkar, who played in four Ranji-winning seasons for Mumbai, told mid-day.
A day earlier, Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur had also blamed dropped catches for the quarter-final defeat in the Ranji Trophy after the beneficiary of the dropped catches, Karnataka’s India batter KL Rahul scored 130.

“When you’re playing for Mumbai, you have to give your life for the team. Your commitment and application has to be 100 per cent. You must have that killer instinct which Mumbai teams have been famous for. It was a disappointing performance, especially against Karnataka. Of course, Karnataka are a good team; chasing 325 in the fourth innings on that wicket was tough. But the unfortunate part is that we dropped catches. If you drop catches, you don’t expect to win. You have to convert those half-chances. Also, you cannot afford to drop your shoulders because just one wicket, one breakthrough, and the floodgates can open. The unfortunate part is that this entire season, we have dropped a lot of catches and the team management has to look into this,” added Vengsarkar, a specialist slip fielder in his playing days.

Dilip Vengsarkar

One specific dropped catch that merits a mention is when Rahul was on 75 on Day 4 in the second innings and edged Thakur to the slips. The ball was heading towards Yashasvi Jaiswal at first slip, but Siddhesh Lad dived to his left from second slip for a singled-handed effort, and failed to hold on. Karnataka were 142-3 at this stage, needing another 183 to win.

When asked if batting failure was also a reason, Vengsarkar, replied: “Yes, but later, the team got settled. Siddhesh [Lad] played an important role in the middle order. The unfortunate part is that Sarfaraz Khan did not play in the last game [due to fever]. His absence was definitely felt. Ajinkya Rahane also opted out in the middle of the season, which is unfortunate. I had not expected him to do that.”

2020
The last time Mumbai failed to reach a single final in the domestic season

2022
The last time Mumbai failed to win any silverware in a domestic season

Four
No. of domestic titles won by Mumbai in the last four years — Ranji Trophy in 2024, Irani Cup in 2025, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy in 2023 
and 2025

Where Mumbai fell short this season

Ranji Trophy
Batting failure was one of the major reasons for Mumbai’s quarter-final exit, because only Siddhesh Lad managed to score 774 runs with the help of five centuries. Mumbai’s 2nd top run-getter was Musheer Khan, who scored 446, with the help of one century. On the bowling front, only left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (30 scalps in 7 games), pacers Tushar Deshpande (25 in 8 ties) and Mohit Avasthi (14 in 4 matches) showed some consistency.

Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over format)
Mumbai, who lost to Karnataka in the quarter-final, failed to get the perfect winning combination in the tournament with as many as 22 players getting a look in. Though Mumbai got India batters Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube for a few games, the team struggled to settle due to the frequent changes.
 
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20 format)
The defending champions relied more on individual brilliance than team performance here. The youngsters failed to capitalise on the opportunities throughout the tournament and the team exited in the Super League stage.