West Indies’ loss is Mumbai Indians’ gain, as Dwayne Bravo has made his way to South Africa to play in The Indian Premier League.
Bravo is feeling his way back to fitness following ankle surgery and has been deemed not fit enough to feature in Test cricket for West Indies.
As such he has been omitted from the Test series with England in early May, which has freed him up to play for Mumbai in The IPL.
“The situation is that I have been advised by doctors to get my ankle stronger before I can play five-day cricket,” Bravo told Cricinfo. “The plan is to join the [West Indian] team in England when the one-day series begins.”
The one-day series with England does not begin until May 21, meaning Bravo, who proved an astute signing by Mumbai last year, can feature in the group stage of The IPL.
Source – setanta.com
Former Protea Jonty Rhodes is “very impressed” by the work ethic the Mumbai Indians’ rookies displayed at a training camp in Durban last week.
Rhodes a member of the Indian Premier League franchise’s management, spent the last few days honing the fielding skills of the younger players in the Mumbai team. He worked closely with fellow former Protea Shaun Pollock, who too is a consultant to the Indians.
“The majority of the players we worked with will fit around the four overseas professionals and four Indian internationals so they are quite young and their skills are very Indian specific,” Rhodes said.“But they showed great enthusiasm and were very keen to throw themselves about. They watch a lot of international cricket and do not subscribe to old theory that India does not have a fielding culture. I was very impressed by how much they wanted to learn and absorb.”
There is a growing belief among the IPL franchises that teams with a strong South African influence will have the edge in this year’s tournament because of it being relocated to the Republic.
So with the two Proteas legends on the payroll of the Mumbai Indians, does Rhodes believe his team will start with an advantage over the seven other franchises?
“Shaun is going to be invaluable to the team. There’s no doubt about that. He just has such a calm demeanour in the dressing room.
“Even when it was thought that the tournament was going to be held in India, and Shaun was still considering whether to come back for another year, the Mumbai management made it very clear they wanted him back,” Rhodes said.Although appreciating Pollock’s involvement, Rhodes was, however, quick to dismiss the assumption that South African players will automatically be the stars of the second IPL season because of their knowledge of the conditions.
The leading South African player in the Mumbai Indians team is JP Duminy, who was signed for $950 000 while Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya also played domestic cricket in Durban for the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins in 2009.
“International players adjust very quickly today. Most of the guys in all the teams are experienced international cricketers. They play all over the world and have learnt to adapt very quickly,” Rhodes said.
“Take a guy like Dwayne Bravo. He plays for the West Indies in the Caribbean, where each island has different conditions, and he has learnt a lot on how to adapt all over. His experience will be very valuable.”
The Mumbai Indians will kickstart the IPL against last year’s finalists, the Chennai Super Kings, on Saturday, April 18 at Newlands
Essex all-rounder Graham Napier is relishing the prospect of playing under champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL 2 and feels it will be a lifetime’s experience for him.
“Millions of cricketers — amateur or professional would love to get the chance to play alongside Sachin Tendulkar. I have that opportunity so am looking forward to it immensely. He is cricket in India. Just to have the chance to speak to him and understand his way of thinking is a great life experience”, he said on his personal website.
Napier, who is set to fly out of England for Durban this Sunday to link up with his MI teammates ahead of the IPL opener on April 18, was also full of praise about the skills of two other Indian performers – off spinner Harbhajan Singh and speedster Zaheer Khan.
“His experience and ability to spin the ball both ways will be brilliant for us in the middle overs of the innings to peg an innings back,” he said about Harbhajan Singh.
Describing Zaheer as the world’s best left-armer and one of the cleverest bowlers in the game, Napier felt that the Indian pace sprearhead’s ability to bowl swing, reverse swing and his changes of pace “will make him invaluable to the Mumbai Indians.”
“I’ll make sure I get the chance to speak to him to try to add something to my own game.” he added.
Source – cricket.expressindia.com
This has been a memorable year for Mumbai in domestic cricket. They won a record 38th Ranji Trophy crown. But as the IPL approaches, the Mumbai Indians are hoping to add another glorious chapter to their history by turning last year’s disappointing result on its head.
There is a buzz in the Mumbai Indians camp: a new coach in former India batsman Praveen Amre, who has been very successful with the Mumbai Ranji team, taking them to two titles in the last three years.
“When you work with Mumbai (Ranji team) you’re the only decision maker,” Amre says. “But here you have to work as a unit and adjust yourself to see that the franchise is going there and winning.”
Amre will join Shaun Pollock, who has given up his playing gear for a role as mentor to the team, and Jonty Rhodes, who has been roped in as fielding coach. Ten young Mumbai Indians players have already been to Durban and trained with Pollock and Rhodes.
“As far as we saw, the pitches were pretty good, there was some good bounce and pretty good for batting,” said Abhishek Nayar. “It was good for cricket: bowlers had some nip in it, the batsmen could time the ball as well.”
The Mumbai Indians endured more near misses than hits last year. The players in particular remember close losses to Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals – defeats that cost them a semi-final place.
“The one-run loss to Kings XI Punjab last year is still fresh in my mind,” says Ajinkya Rahane. “But close games are bound to be played in Twenty20 cricket. Fewer mistakes will give us a better chance.”
So even as their key players Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh prepare for a final go at the Kiwis, the first batch of Mumbai Indians will leave for Durban in a couple of days.
