There is a very remote chance of Mumbai making the cut to the knock-out stage as they would now need two outright wins from the final two games, but their recent past doesn’t raise much hope. They meet Baroda in their penultimate game at the Motibagh ground on Thursday before running into the league toppers Karnataka, a team that’s been on a roll for the last two years. Not that Baroda is going to be easy; as hosts, they have already prepared a turning track after watching Mumbai crumbling against Tamil Nadu on a turner in Chennai.

Perhaps the on-field troubles has a connection with the mess that is unfolding off the field. Their new captain Suryakumar Yadav quit after mere five games and the parent body MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) has appointed wicket-keeper batsman Aditya Tare, who has been too out of form. As Mumbai hopes for a jailbreak, The Indian Express looks out for few of their blunders this season.

Captain leaving mid way

It wasn’t just the timing of his decision to quit captaincy — with just two games to go — that has raised eyebrows but the circumstances that led up to it. Yadav, who has been scoring runs, has been in the news for too many other reasons. Mumbai Ranji team manager Shrikant Tigdi submitted a return complaint to MCA for misbehavior. He has also been involved in a verbal spat with the medium-pacer Shardul Thakur, who incidentally been one of their better performers. The official reason Yadav gave for quitting captaincy was that he wanted to concentrate on his batting but the events say a different story.

Drop zone

The captain also had problems with the coach Pravin Amre. Sources say that Yadav had wanted to drop Aditya Tare, who hasn’t been among runs, — not a popular decision. Intriguingly, Tare has been named the new captain.

Selectors fighting

Mumbai’s impatient selectors kept fighting it out during selection meeting. One of the selectors Milind Rege had resigned but his resignation wasn’t accepted. At the same time too many changes were made in last five games. Every game saw some new set of players coming in. Nearly 25 players have been picked so far.

Dressing room politics

It’s a young Mumbai team with no senior player with a link to the famous past and this lot lacks belief and has a trust deficiency with each other. MCA vice-president Ravi Savant had to once call Yadav and Thakur to clear airs after an on-field spat during Madhya Pradesh game but things have only turned worse since.