Latest: Wasim Jaffer excludes himself from his all-time Mumbai XI

A few surprise exclusions including himself, Wasim Jaffer names his all-time Mumbai 11 with Sunil Gavaskar as the captain of the side. 

One among the most decorated players, Wasim Jaffer has mentioned his all-time Mumbai XI (since 1970). The sheer solidity of the team is commendable. The batting line up is one among the best, with all the legends grouped together, and the bowling line-up is well known off, but there are few surprise exclusions.

Mumbai, as we know, is outright the marquee team of Indian domestic cricket. Adorned with 41 Ranji trophies and 14 Irani Cups, Mumbai has savoured unparalleled success. The Mumbai (earlier known as Bombay) team is also famous for the world-class batsmen they have been produced for Indian cricket.

Right from the likes of Vijay Merchant to Prithvi Shaw, from Ajit Wadekar to Yashaswi Jaiswal, Mumbai’s contribution to Indian batting has been unprecedented. Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar have cemented their places in all-time World Test XI’s too. Has it been only batting? Nope. Mumbai’s bowlers also have served Indian cricket for long and have been quite successful. Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar are some honourable mentions, among many.

Meanwhile, here’s the all-time Mumbai XI that Wasim Jaffer selected: 

Sunil Gavaskar (C), Rohit Sharma, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Chandrakant Pandit (WK), Sairaj Bahutule/Romesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar/Abdul Ismail, Zaheer Khan, Abey Kuruvilla, Padmakar Shivalkar, Ghulam Parkar (12^th)

My all time Mumbai XI since 1970:
1. Gavaskar (c)
2. @ImRo45
3. Vengsarkar
4. @sachin_rt
5. @vinodkambli349
6. C Pandit (wk)
7. Bahutule / @imrameshpowar
8. @imAagarkar/ Abdul Ismail
9. @ImZaheer
10. A Kuruvilla
11. P Shivalkar
12th- G Parkar

Thoughts guys? @MumbaiCricAssoc

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) April 11, 2020

Former Indian captain, Sunil Gavaskar and ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma are to open the innings. ‘Colonel’ Vengsarkar Sir, Sachin Tendulkar (no brainer) and his childhood batting partner, Vinod Kambli make up the middle order. However, the modesty of Wasim Jaffer is quite evident as he has excluded himself from the playing 11 as otherwise, he would have been the first player on the list playing for Mumbai. 

With more than 8000 first-class runs and a safe pair of hands, Chandrakant Pandit is the wicket-keeper. For the all-rounders’ spot, Jaffer has mentioned 2 players i.e Sairaj Bahutule and Ramesh Powar. The pace department consists of the wicked old horse, Zaheer Khan, Abdul Ismail/Ajit Agarkar and Abey Kuruvilla, and Padmakar Shivalkar is the sole spinner in the team.

Surprising Exclusions:

There were a few surprising exclusions from the team. Amol Muzumdar, an Indian domestic giant who has scored more than 11000 first-class runs has been overlooked. In the all-rounders’ section, the current coach of the Indian team, Ravi Shastri has been neglected. Nilesh Kulkarni, the wily slow left-arm orthodox who has more than 350 first-class wickets to his name hasn’t been spotted.

Few other notable mentions: Ajinkya Rahane, Wasim Jaffer, Raju Kulkarni, Paras Mhambrey are also missing. 

Thanks for reading! Do you agree with Wasim Jaffer’s all-time Mumbai 11? Please, let’s know in the comments. 

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