Mumbai spinner Ramesh Powar unhappy with flat wicket dished out at Jaipur; Rest Of India pile up 331 for one

Jaipur: Mumbai's veteran off-spinner, Ramesh Powar, lashed out at the flat wicket at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium which allowed Rest of India to surge to 331 for 1 on the opening day of the Irani Trophy yesterday.
"It was a disappointment.
It should have been better for such an important match. There was nothing in it for the bowlers. I bowled 21 overs and could beat the bat only twice. Also, there was no carry for the medium pacers," Powar said.

When asked about Mumbai's sloppy fielding, Powar said, "Yes we dropped Abhinav Mukund early in the morning but the other chances were fairly difficult.
Ramesh Powar

The flat wicket made our task more difficult," he said.
"We will have to keep trying that is the only alternative for us.


Rest of India's Abhinav Mukund celebrates his century against Mumbai
with teammate S. Badrinath in Jaipur on Friday. pic/Kamal Julka

The credit also goes to Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan and S Badrinath, who batted well and applied themselves. The pitch will become slower and lower which will make batting more difficult as the match progresses," said Powar.
The centurion, Mukund, echoed Powar's views. "Mumbai's bowlers tried their best but the wicket was flat.

Dhawan and I are from different states but have been opening together for the past few months so the chemistry goes well. He is more aggressive and I don't mind playing second fiddle," said the youngster fromTamil Nadu.

"We have to carry on the good work. I can't predict what is going to happen because there is much time left but the pitch is certainly going to be slower and lower," he said.

"Despite the pitch being flat, it was not easy to stay at the wicket. We have been playing shorter versions for past few months. It was after four months that I was wearing whites. It meant that we had to apply ourselves," he opined.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0