T20 Mumbai League: Shreyas Iyer’s Falcons eye title against Maratha Royals

Two teams making their maiden appearance in T20 Mumbai League — SoBo Mumbai Falcons and Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals — will fight it out for the title at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

What’s more interesting is that Shreyas Iyer, who led Punjab Kings to the final of the recent Indian Premier League, has guided Falcons to the title round and will look for a change in fortunes as far as laying his hands on the silverware is concerned.

Though Iyer has not really fired with the bat in this tournament — his scores in the four innings being one, 11, 25 and 13 — there is always the feeling that he nay have reserved his best for the final, and somehow seek solace in winning the title for his team and in the bargain make amends for losing the IPL 
final last week. On the eve of the summit clash, Iyer said that he was excited at the prospect of facing a competitive opposition. 

“I’m excited, to be honest [about this final]. It’s going to be a great competition with the Maratha Royals. I’m looking forward to facing this team,” said Iyer, who must still be hurting at that missed IPL opportunity against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Interestingly, his mere presence has inspired his Falcons teammates to give their best. Standing in the way of the Falcons are the unassuming Royals, who will rely on the abilities of 38-year-old all-rounder Rohan Raje. The medium pacer took 5-40 in Tuesday’s semi-final. Interestingly, Raje was not picked in the auction, but came in as a replacement for Tushar Deshpande, who was selected for India ‘A’ to tour England.

“I would’ve been on vacation with my wife if not picked for this league,” Raje said with a laugh. On a serious note, he stressed that age does  not matter. “I don’t feel old at 38. I work throughout the season, whether it’s practice or fitness, so during matches, I’m fully prepared and my performances are good.” 

This article first appeared on Mid Day