The flow of Mumbai cricket's woes has been fast and furious this season, eventuating in a rare failure of not qualifying for the Ranji Trophy knockout stage. That is not surprising considering Mumbai could notch up only a solitary outright win across eight games in a season that saw the participation of 25 players, including eight debutants.

For a city that enjoys an enviable batting legacy, Mumbai could gain the first innings lead only twice this season. The sheer number-crunching points to a cricketing edifice in shambles. Not in former captain Sanjay Manjrekar's book. "You've got to look at the whole thing in a more mature fashion," he told mid-day yesterday. He was recently invited by the Mumbai Cricket Association's Cricket Improvement Committee [CIC] and Manjrekar put things in perspective without getting into what kind of inputs he provided.