MUMBAI: Former India wicket-keeper
Ajay Ratra has emerged as the surprise candidate in the race to be the new Mumbai coach. Ratra played six Tests and 12 ODIs for India, and was a part of the 2000 Under-19 World Cup winning team. Ratra's application for the post is surprising since he played for Haryana, and Mumbai have never hired an outstation coach in their history. The 36-year-old coached Punjab in the last season. He has also coached at the
National Cricket Academy
(NCA).
"If given an opportunity, I would love to coach Mumbai. It will be an honour to do so. Mumbai
cricket
is at the core of Indian cricket," Ratra told TOI on Wednesday.
Overall, the
Mumbai Cricket Association
(MCA) has received six applications for the post of Mumbai coach. Apart from Ratra, the other applicants are former India offspinner
Ramesh Powar, ex-Mumbai wicket-keeper Vinayak Samant, former Vidarbha cricketer Pritam Gandhe and Vinod Raghavan. The sixth name isn't clear as yet. Tuesday was the last date for the applications for the Mumbai senior and junior coach.
During his long first-class career from 1995 to 2012, Samant played for Assam, Mumbai and Tripura, before turning to coaching. Known as a gutsy cricketer, Samant was part of several Ranji triumphs during his eight seasons for Mumbai. In 101 FC games, he scored 3496 runs@28.19, with 22 fifties and two hundreds. His highest score was 200 not out.
The 45-year-old has coached the Mumbai under-23 team, and was responsible for the development of talented youngsters like Jay Bista and Akash Parkar.
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