Full Text: Mumbai Ranji skipper Aditya Tare speaks on captaincy, season ahead and Sachin's influence

Last season, Mumbai had a roller-coaster ride in the Ranji Trophy. At one point they even faced the prospect of relegation. Captain Suryakumar Yadav resigned after a loss to Tamil Nadu - only their fourth innings defeat in the history of tournament and first since 1951.

Amidst the trouble and reports of infighting, Aditya Tare took over the captaincy of a young side. He led from the front and hit a century in his first match as captain to lead their revival and help them reach semi-final. Tare made his first-class debut in 2009 and it was the sole match he played before waiting in the wings for the next three years. It was in the 2012-13 season that he became an integral part of the Mumbai side.

This season, Mumbai did not get off to a good start as they conceded a first innings lead to Andhra Pradesh. But they bounced back to beat Punjab by an innings in the next.

Firstpost’s Jigar Mehta caught up with Tare who hit a century against Punjab at the Wankhede. Throughout the interview, Tare is intense, focused and comes out as a really confident guy who speaks at length about his goals, the challenges he faces this season as a player and captain, his captaincy stint so far, dealing with the pressure of expectations with such a rich history behind, the loss of veteran Wasim Jaffer, and Sachin Tendulkar’s visits with the team.

Here’s the full text of Tare’s interview with Firstpost.

Jigar: Mumbai has struggled since they last won the Ranji Trophy in 2012-13. What do you think has gone wrong?

Tare: 2012-13 was my (full-fledged) debut season. After that we played the quarters and then semis. So you can’t say that we are struggling. Struggling would be a harsh word to use I feel. The last time we won the championship we had Ajit Agarkar as the captain, Wasim Jaffer, Zaheer Khan, Ramesh Powar, Rohit (Sharma) and Ajinkya (Rahane) all played a few games. So you see there were six-seven international players playing that year and suddenly they have all gone out. Now Rohit and Ajinkya are always on national duty. Fortunately we have Dhawal Kulkarni with us at the moment. Wasim bhai has moved on, Sachin Paaji and Ajit have retired, Zak is not there. You see there are big holes, big, big shoes to be filled by the youngsters. It is like a transition, the youngsters have taken over.

Abhishek (Nayar) is the only experienced guy and it’s great to have him. We have four-five guys that were a part of the winning season. But Abhishek is the one who’s won four-five Ranji trophies and has got a lot of experience. The others are just making their careers for Mumbai. It is a period where the younger guys are stepping up and coming in. So there is a vast difference between the championship winning season and these next two seasons.

Big, big players have gone on to retire and play international cricket and there are younger guys who have come in. So it’s not going to be easy for the younger guys to fill those shoes. But obviously Mumbai is such that you expect whoever comes in to be there at the top level always.

However, I don’t think we’ve been struggling as such but obviously for me the standards are very high and that’s how it should be because it’s Mumbai. The standards have always been set high and that’s what we want to do, we always want to win Ranji Trophy and anything short of that is considered a failure in Mumbai which is nice because that’s how the standards should be set. Obviously we are trying our best to achieve those.

Jigar: So how long will it take for these youngsters to adapt?

Tare: I can’t give you a time frame. I am not saying that we are not going to win anything for the next three-four years. We always play for the championship and it doesn’t matter what the team is, how many youngsters are playing. Obviously yes, with experience the team will get better, they will come closer. Last year I thought in the fag end of the tournament we started believing in each other and started doing well. We beat two experienced teams in Baroda and Delhi away from home without Wasim bhai or any experienced player but the youngsters did well against the experienced teams and won us the matches. That’s given us confidence and it shows that there is ability in the younger guys. Just that it’s a matter of time.

Jigar: Were you expecting to be appointed Mumbai captain last season? What was your initial reaction? Were you ready for the challenge?

Tare: Absolutely (I was ready for the challenge). I love leading a side. I love playing for Mumbai. Whatever role has been assigned for me in the Mumbai dressing room, I am readily going to accept it and perform it to the best of my abilities.

I was ready. I had played two whole seasons for Mumbai so I thought I had gained a bit more experience in the season before. And obviously that challenge came up and I am not someone who would run away or shy away from challenges, I like to take them on. I thought that it’s a great opportunity for me to accept the challenge and try and turn things around for Mumbai.

I wasn’t thinking on those terms (captaincy) at all. When Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) resigned and I was asked to take up the leadership role, I was always going to readily, happily accept it, I knew that whatever comes my way I am going to take it. I didn’t expect it or I wasn’t waiting for it. It just came my way and I accepted it.

No, not at all (It wasn’t a surprise or shock). To me it was a moment of massive pride to have asked to lead the Mumbai team. I have always loved playing for Mumbai, be it any role.

Jigar: What did you learn about captaincy last season?

Tare: I think it’s (captaincy) a slow process. Captaincy is a thing you get better with experience. You play as many games and learn from it. You lose, you win and you learn, keep learning and keep moving. It is a team which is very talented. It’s still a bit young but there is a lot of hope. I see great bunch of cricketers in this dressing room that we have. We are capable of achieving great success if we stick together and play to our abilities.

I thought we had an up and down time last season. We were struggling at the start but then played two good games - in Uttar Pradesh we won outright against a very experienced side and then we took the first innings lead against Bengal away from home. However, after that we again had a slump where we conceded the first innings lead to Madhya Pradesh at home and then lost to Tamil Nadu by an innings. We were almost fighting the relegation battle. We were in a big hole and from there I think the boys showed a lot of character, they showed the ability to fight back and turn things around, to look at the positive way and to grab the opportunity. I think we did well in the last two games (of group stages) to qualify for the quarters.

It’s a long season and there are good experienced teams in the top division especially in Group A and B so it’s going to be tough always. You are expected go up and down but it’s important you move on and move forward and keep trying. My basic aim is to take this team forward, to make them believe what they are capable of, what this team is capable of, what this team can achieve if we stick together and play to our abilities.

That’s my biggest challenge, to convince the guys and make them believe that we are extremely talented, we are young and there is no limit to our success but provided we need to have our heads on our shoulders. We have to work hard, extremely hard. We have to be determined. We have to learn from our mistakes and try and move forward.

Jigar: What are your goals for this season and what are the major challenges you think you will face as a player and captain?

Tare: The goal is always to win Ranji trophy. To be honest be it any tournament, whenever Mumbai plays, we want to win it all that’s what our attitude is and that’s what our attitude should be - to win the championship. Obviously for me personally being the captain I always believe the captain has to always lead by example - take the front row always, try and take as many challenges head on. Try and bring stability in the team, try and give the guys the freedom that they need and try and make them feel in a happy space to perform. I need to be performing from the front, I need to lead the performance but obviously it’s not in my control. However, my attitude is such that I want to do well for the team; I want to do well as a captain, player and keeper. It doesn’t matter whatever the hurdles are there in the path, the ultimate thing is I have to do well and lead by example.

Jigar: Mumbai has a rich history and there are expectations of a title every year. How much pressure does that put on you?

Tare: That’s the way we are brought up. We know we have a rich history, we know we have won it 40 times out of 81. A 50% win ratio and Winning 40 domestic titles is a great achievement. The history suggests that we have had a terrific tradition of winning Ranji trophies and that really motivates us and inspires us and that’s what we are set out to. We are set out to win the Ranji Trophy this year.

To be honest we always want to win but you can’t really win all the times, you can’t really win every year but that’s the challenge. There’s always pressure, be it a club game, a corporate game, first-class game or an international match, there’s always pressure when you go out and play. But it’s up to the individual how he can handle the pressure, how he can overcome it and how he can perform. I think that there should be some amount of pressure on you; it always gets the best out of you. That’s what I always believe.

Jigar: Has the departure Wasim Jaffer had any effect on the dressing room?

Tare: Wasim bhai is obviously a big hole to be filled. He’s been a terrific player for so many years. He’s been amazing with the youngsters, watching him play is like an education. The worst part of him leaving is that the younger batsmen are going to miss out on learning from him. But obviously you have to move on. Every big player has to go and someone has to replace him, that’s the part of the game. I think, we played most of the last year without Wasim bhai and that sort of shows and gives us some confidence that even without him we did well if not great. With experience we can get better as a team. Obviously we will miss him. We will miss his experience. We will miss the learning. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t play without him.

Jigar: Mumbai’s batting crumbled under pressure multiple times last season. There were two 150-plus scores and no double century. Mumbai is known for its Khadoos cricket. Do you think that attitude is somewhat missing in the new generation?

Tare: Maybe because that’s what the statistics suggest but to be honest even the game has become a bit more aggressive with the arrival of T20s. Our generation has seen a lot of T20s, previously there were only Test matches, after that ODIs and now T20s. So this generation is more of a T20 sort of generation. They like to attack, they like to play aggressive cricket, they like to play their shots and along with that there comes the risk of getting out as well. But that doesn’t mean that my team takes it for granted. We want to score big runs, we want to play with that ‘khadoos’ attitude.

We want to win games with the bat for Mumbai that’s what I believe we should do and we want to do. But obviously, the cricket has also changed a bit, it has been a bit more aggressive and with that also comes a lot of risks and guys are willing to take those risks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But we can’t get away by saying that we only play aggressive cricket. We sometimes also have to play to the situation and whoever is playing in the middle should take the responsibility of the team on his shoulders. We can’t get away with the fact that we are aggressive players and are going to play in the same way. You also have to adapt and change with the game sometimes when the team needs you to. That’s what I and the coach will try and inculcate in the boys.

Jigar: Last season it was the pacers who were impressive but none of the spinners stood out. Do you think lack of good spin bowlers is a worry for Mumbai?

Tare: I think, Vishal Dabholkar was among the top-10 wicket-takers (6th with 39 wickets at 26.76) in the 2013-14 season, before that Ankeet Chavan was there. Last year Harmeet (Singh), when he played 4 games, picked up around 15 wickets. He was quite impressive in the latter half of the season. So I don’t think it’s a big worry. Yes, obviously Vishal had his issues but he’s sorted them out and has come back stronger and has been a better bowler than before.

Although Harmeet didn’t get the first game (this season) but I believe in him. He is a wicket-taking bowler; he’s got great ability with the ball. There are lot of spinners in the junior ranks too who are coming up. Apparently in Under-23 there are 4-5 spinners who are good enough to play for the team and obviously they will develop and give these two guys a run for their money. I expect there will be a good healthy competition between the spinners as well. So I don’t think we are struggling as such. We’ve got two good left-arm spinners in the ranks (right now).

Jigar: There have been a couple of unpleasant experiences like a fight between two players and a spat between player and the manager. How is your relationship with the players?

Tare: We are absolutely good mates. The guys in this team have been playing together since junior level. At least for Ranji trophy, we’ve been together for three-four years now. We try and understand each other, we know each other well now that we’ve spent so much time together. There are incidents that happen in the heat of the moment, I am sure it happens in every team but it doesn’t come out much. It was unfortunate whatever happened but the guys are professionals, they love playing for Mumbai. Whatever happens it happens in the heat of the moment as it’s quite intense out there. But it’s all over; we’ve gotten over it now. The team atmosphere is absolutely perfect. It’s great. There’s always a scope for improvement but at the moment we are quite a happy team and everyone’s moved on. We are grown-ups, we are professionals so it’s important to move on and concentrate on our cricket.

Jigar: Was there a big challenge to get this unit together for you as a captain?

Tare: I thought our coach Praveen (Amre) sir helped sort the situation well. The support staff and team members themselves were quite professional. We took our focus away from the incidents and put all our focus on cricket and that’s what helped us do well in the latter half of the season. Praveen sir helped the team extremely positively and he was quite helpful to me as well. Obviously we wanted to focus on the game more that the off field distractions. We just wanted to be a good and a strong unit on the field. It was a challenge but everyone took it positively. It was a collective effort from the entire squad.

Jigar: What did Sachin Tendulkar say to the team when you met him before the season?

Tare: He came to meet us last season as well when we lost to Jammu and Kashmir. We are quite fortunate that he is always there to help us and come and talk to us. He’s always been very helpful in his nature especially with Mumbai cricket and Mumbai cricketers. He’s always been there whenever you ask him to come or call him. He is always there to guide you and to advice you on the game, your individual game or team planning. It’s always great to have him around and to know that he cares and really loves this team.

He visited us twice (before the start of this season). Once he had a chat with the bowlers individually on what they need to do, what should be their thinking and mentality. And in the other session, he only met the batsmen individually. He spoke to them whatever he felt that can help an individual’s game particularly. It was quite personalised and wasn’t anything general. He spoke to every batsman who was playing there. He guided them in their technique and mental aspects and everything.

Jigar: So what did he tell you personally?

Tare: Personally, he asked me to look into a few technical things. When he visited me the second time, he felt that there is some improvement. He addressed one or two technical things he felt I should correct. He also helped me out on the mental part. See I have spent 3-4 season with him with Mumbai Indians as well, so I know what sort of a person he is. He is a terrific individual, when he talks to you it just boosts your confidence. He gives you a different perspective of the game which you can very rarely imagine. The way he speaks, the way he thinks and when he shares his ideas and thoughts to you, it really opens your mind up completely and that’s what he did.

Aditya Tare scored a century as Mumbai defeated Punjab outright in their second Ranji trophy match