Interview Aditya Tare: 'It was really good to win Ranji Trophy with such a young side'

From taking over captaincy duties of a struggling Mumbai team in 2014-15 season, Aditya Tare now stands as a Ranji Trophy winning captain with a team which is filled with young blood.

Tare has come a long way in a very short span of time in Ranji Trophy. He made his debut in 2012-13 where he was a part of Mumbai’s triumph as a player and in 2015-16, as a captain he led his side to yet another title. Interestingly Saurashtra was on the other end on both the occasions in the finals.

The captaincy brought the best out of Tare as his performance rose and he made some useful contributions in his side’s victories. His team mate Shreyas Iyer might have missed out on breaking the record for most runs in a Ranji season but Aditya Tare didn’t miss out in setting new record for most dismissals in a Ranji Trophy season.

His success was not limited to days cricket. He was among the leading run scorers in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, as he scored 311 runs at an impressive average of 51.83.

The Mumbai captain will now be leading his side against Rest of India in the Irani Trophy. Ahead of the game, Aditya Tare talked about the successful Ranji season, his new IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad in an exclusive interview with CricTracker.

Excerpts from the interview:

First of all, congratulations on winning the Ranji Trophy. Was it a special experience for you leading the side to the title?

Thank you so much. It was a special one. But for me being a captain or a player isn’t really important; winning the Ranji Trophy title matters the most.

It has been a great journey for the Mumbai team throughout the season. There were only a few moments where opposition had an upper hand over you guys. Was it a part of the plan to dominate right from the outset?

I think the quality of the cricket we played this year was really good. The youngsters in the team are very confident and positive in their mind set. And also the team management has shown lot of confidence in a set of players throughout the season so that the players have the sense of security about their places and play for the team very freely without thinking much about their spot.

How was your journey leading the side to the title? Tell us about the experience of captaining a side like Mumbai, which has a glorious history in the competition.

It’s a great feeling. I love leading the team, I love being the captain and love taking the responsibility which comes along the team as a captain. And that also helps my game to exhibit the best out of me. It’s a great feeling to lead such a great team like Mumbai, which has a lot of legacy behind it. I feel very proud and honored being Mumbai captain.

Mumbai has been off color after 2012-13 season. The International players weren’t there either and you took over the captaincy when the team was struggling in the last season. This year the team rose to finish the tournament as champions. How was the feeling of winning the title after struggling in the last 2 seasons?

It was really good to win Ranji Trophy with such a young side. It’s great for the guys who have come in and have tasted the victory of Ranji Trophy title. Now they know how hard we worked as team and how difficult it is to win. It is important that you win championships so that you experience the joys and hardships required to win Ranji Trophy and other championships.

The season started with Andhra taking first innings lead over Mumbai, which was also the only time you conceded more than 1 point to the opposition. How did the team regroup after that opening match? When did you guys started to believe that you can win the title?

Yes, we got a big lesson when we went to Andhra and conceded the lead. After that we really pulled up our socks and teamed up together to work very seriously about every game. From there we won every game and also the Ranji Trophy. So when we got that shock in Andhra we got more intense in the work with ethics.

Who kept the team motivated? Describe the role Mumbai Coach Chandrakant Pandit has been playing for the team. How influential has your coach Austin Coutinho been in your career?

Austin Coutinho is my coach and he obvious gives me support and confidence. Whenever there is a tough situation I give him call and talk to him. He helps me out mentally and is always there to encourage me. It was a great experience with Chandu (Chandrakant Pandit) Sir. He handled the team pretty well. He brought in some new discipline and work ethics, which helped us a lot.

Coming to individual performances, Shreyas Iyer was superb with the bat, Akhil Hirwedkar gave the team good starts, Shardul Thakur performed well and Dhawal Kulkarni’s presence helped the team as well. And Siddhesh Lad turned up whenever the team was in crisis. Few words on their contributions in absence of the international and experienced players?

It was great that everyone contributed. Some contributed outstandingly, and some contributed in limited games but those turned out to be match winning ones. To win Ranji Trophy, you need lot of players doing well. At top of the order, you have Akhil and Iyer in top form. Abhishek Nayar was brilliant with both bat and ball. Dhawal is an experienced bowler. His presence really helped the team. And Shardul picked up over 40 wickets in this season. Sandhu (Balvinder Sandhu) was brilliant with new ball. Surya (Surya Kumar Yadav) and Lad also did well in the middle order. So all in all it was a collective team effort.

Talking about your performances, you now hold the record for most dismissals as keeper in a Ranji season. You also played some important knocks during the season. A century in semi-final and an important fifty in 4th innings against Railways. Happy with your performance?

Yes, absolutely happy. You want to contribute towards the team and help them to win championships. As a captain you need to be contributing more often. I am quite happy how things went for me. A lot of credit goes to the bowlers who helped me get the record. They have been brilliant at producing edges which came back to me.

You didn’t bat at a specific position in the tournament. You opened a couple of times, batted at No.5 and No.6. Any particular reason for that?

Yes, I like to bat anywhere in the order.Wherever there is demand in batting order, like I can fill in there. I feel I have the ability to bat anywhere in the order, so I will be prepared to keep wickets and bat anywhere in the order.

Keeping the World T20 and IPL auctions in mind the limited overs tournaments were played ahead of the Ranji Trophy knockouts this season, how difficult is it to switch formats?

We can’t complain about the scheduling as we were aware of it from the start. We were aware about how to prepare in the break to play white ball. Obviously, the time period is not too big you know to prepare for red ball, white ball and again red ball. But as a professional player you should do that. You cannot sit back and complain about the time and schedule.

The schedule of the Kanga League was changed this year do you think that will help in getting more youngsters ready to serve Mumbai?

It’s a great move that the schedule was changed. Kanga League has always been a tough for scoring runs. The league has a great history and tradition. It is one of the reasons why Mumbai has history of producing technically strong batsmen especially in difficult conditions.

And coming to the other domestic tournaments, I was at the Vijay Hazare games which Mumbai played in Hyderabad. You used the pacers really well throughout. Persistent with the ones who were doing well, and changed whenever there was a change in the situation. Do you go into the game with a set of tactics or take decisions considering the current situation?

We do plan certain things before the game. But sometimes you need to change according to the on field situation. So it’s a mixture of both. Sometimes we go by plan but we do change according to match situation.

You will be playing in Irani Trophy in a couple of days, against the Rest of India team filled up with consistent performers. How are your preparations going on for the game?

Yes, it is going to be a big challenge. We are preparing well. We are working hard to do something special in Irani Trophy as well.

And coming to the IPL, you will be playing for SRH this year after been part of home franchise since the very first season? How are you looking forward to it?

Absolutely excited to come and play for Hyderabad. But you know, it will be difficult leaving Mumbai after playing 7-8 seasons. But I think it is a good move because it will push me out of my comfort zone and I will be playing away from home. Again, it is a new challenge, new set of players and new coaching staff. Hopefully, I will get opportunities to prove myself and help SRH to win matches.

You shared ideas with Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, John Wright, Jonty Rhodes, Kumble and many others when you were in MI. Now you will have VVS Laxman, Tom Moody alongside Yuvraj and many other foreign stars. How excited are you at joining SRH?

Absolutely excited. Looking forward to work with Laxman Bhai, Tom Moody, Yuvi and lot of great players like David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Ashish Nehra. So it’s a very strong team with experience and I am looking to play there to gain the experience and help them in winning matches.