Mohit, Unadkat train their eyes on returning to Team India

On the surface, Mohit Sharma and Suresh Raina have nothing in common except that they both would look back at October 25, 2015, with the same tinge of sadness. For, that was the day when the duo last played an ODI for India and have since seen their stock plummet in the volatile cricketing market. Both Mohit and Raina are in the city to take part, nay win back their spots in the national team and have turned to the Buchi Babu tournament to showcase their potential that has come under intense scrutiny. 

Mohit, who is leading the Haryana team, gave a clichéd reply about him not looking too far ahead when asked about his prospects of returning to the Indian set-up. He was, however, more categorical about his preference to play for Chennai Super Kings in next year’s IPL. “I will definitely be happy to play for CSK again after a two-year absence. I have had fond memories of my stint with the franchise. But it all depends on what the auction throws up,” said the 28-year old. 

To a question on his fitness, Mohit said he couldn’t be in finer fettle and that he was raring to get started ahead of a lengthy home season. “The BCCI did the right thing by restoring the home-and-away format in the Ranji Trophy. We had to do a lot of travelling last season and that took a toll on our weary bodies. The BCCI has also cut down on the number of matches which is laudable. Every team will also look to maximise its home advantage which was lacking last season,” added Mohit. 

Another cricketer on the comeback trail is Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat. He was one of the standout performers for the beaten finalist Rising Pune Supergiant in this year’s IPL as he finished with 24 wickets that included a hat-trick against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final over. After a nomadic spell in the IPL that saw him turn out for four different teams, the lanky 25-year-old credits the support staff at Pune for the spectacular turnaround. 

In the second round of Buchi Babu tournament, Haryana require a further 136 runs to stay in the hunt for a semi-final against Saurashtra at the IC Guru Nanak College ground here on Tuesday.

Brief Scores:  Kerala 380 in 87.4 overs (Vishnu Vinod 138, P Rahul 102, Ryan Parag 3/73) vs Assam. Saurashtra 236 in 52 overs (Snell Patel 69, Sheldon Jackson 120, Chaitanya Bishnoi 5/26) vs Haryana 101/4 in 38 overs. Baroda 308/8 in 90 overs (Prabhav Thakar 79, Abhijit Karambelkar 100, Mehdi Hasan 4/117) vs Hyderabad. Mumbai 235 in 70.3 overs (Hardik Tamore 72, Ashaysar Desai 59*, Zeeshan Ansari 5/78, Imtiyaz Ahmad 3/35) vs UPCA 43/1 in 17 overs.