Muzumdar misses out on Mumbai tour of Australia

It is not every day that a state side gets to tour a foreign country. But that is exactly what is happening in the Champions Cup. Winners of the domestic competitions from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and India clash at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground at Perth in a week of cricket under lights, which commenced on Thursday. In an announcement yesterday, the Mumbai Cricket Association made it clear that Amol Muzumdar, vice captain of the side, would play no part in the series as he had been sacked for disciplinary reasons.

The Mumbai team left the Indian shores on Monday, March 26 without Muzumdar. A disciplinary committee decided that enough was enough and took Muzumdar to task. The stylish middle order bat has been dogged by accusations of bad behaviour at various stages in his career. Recently, Muzumdar has been reported twice by umpires for misbehaving in first class matches. Swearing at umpires, officials and even team mates is not something new to the young man once touted to be the next Sachin Tendulkar of Mumbai cricket.

According to reports, things finally broke when Muzumdar refused to wear clothing with the sponsors' logo when Mumbai took on Punjab in a high profile Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. Not alone in his breaches of conduct, Muzumdar had southpaw Jatin Paranjpe for company. Paranjpe however was let off with a warning after attending a disciplinary hearing in which Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice presidents Pravin Barve and Ravi Sawant questioned the duo. Being apologetic got Paranjpe a long way. If reports are to be believed, Muzumdar was brash and refuted the charges against him. Unconvinced by Muzumdar's explanations, the MCA committee omitted him from the team heading to Australia.

This is indeed a sad development in the career of the 26-year-old middle order batsman. Possessing better technique than most, Muzumdar averages over 55 in first class cricket. Bursting onto the scene with an innings of 260 in his first class debut against Haryana in a Ranji Trophy game in 1993-94 - the highest score ever by a debutant in first class cricket - Muzumdar raised the hopes of all Mumbai and indeed India. Since then however, his has been a career of talent and scope that has not been fulfilled completely. Perhaps it is this frustration that has led to recent behaviour problems. Either way, Muzumdar has lost the chance to tour Australia, and with it the opportunity to catch the selectors' eye.

Mumbai opens its campaign against the Western Warriors who won the Mercantile Mutual Cup in Australia last season. The visitors will be led by Sameer Dighe, who has already had his share of success against Australia. In the recently concluded decider at Chennai, the Mumbai stumper remained unbeaten on 22 and took India to a memorable victory in a tense situation. Also in the Mumbai team are former internationals Wasim Jaffer, Jatin Paranjpe, Paras Mhambrey and Vinod Kambli. Left arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni and leggie Sairaj Bahutule who also played in the Chennai Test against Australia are in the team. But Ajit Agarkar and Sachin Tendulkar, away on national duty will miss the Champions Cup.

Mumbai squad: Sameer Dighe (Captain & wicketkeeper), Wasim Jaffer, Robin Morris, Vinod Kambli, Jatin Paranjpe, Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar, Paras Mhambrey, Santosh Saxena, Nilesh Kulkarni, Vinayak Mane, Sriram Kannan and Amit Dani. Coach: Ashok Mankad. Manager: Mayank Khandwala. Official: Ravi Sawant.