Mumbai, Dec 19: The members of the Mumbai Ranji team are thrilled at the prospect of playing at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time since its renovation. The hosts will be playing their last game of the league phase of the ongoing Ranji Trophy against Punjab from December 21-24 here.

Ahead of the match, opener and wicketkeeper Sushant Marathe, who is back in the Mumbai side, said it would mean a lot to him to perform at his homeground. The 26-year-old, who has been in and out of the team, had a good outing in the previous game against Uttar Pradesh. Marathe scored a fluent century and was impressive behind the stumps in Lucknow.

After a gruelling practice session, Marathe spoke to bcci.tv about himself and the team.

Excerpts:

On a good outing in the last two matches after being back in the team

I had a good outing with the gloves in the last two matches, I mean behind the stumps. And in the last match I had a good outing in front of the stumps as well as with the bat, so feels it good.

On Punjab’s bowling attack

Besides a couple of them I don’t know any of them actually. The usual bowlers like [Manpreet] Gony and Luv Ablish aren’t there. But I have played the spinners; Rahul Sharma and the left-arm spinner.

On the responsibility of filling in Ajinkya Rahane’s shoes

I don’t think I am filling in Ajinkya’s shoes, actually, because he is a No. 3 bat and I am an opener and wicketkeeper. Rather, I can’t, because he’s been scoring consistently scoring big runs over the last two or three seasons. So for anyone to come in and step into his shoes is a tough task.

On going into the knockout phase without some of their key players like Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan

This [match against Punjab] is going to be good preparation going into the knockouts. [We’re going to play on] a good, lively pitch against a quality side. Going into the knockouts, it’s the perfect match to get into the groove. We will have to play really well to beat this side and if we do, we will be taking a lot of that momentum into the quarterfinals.

On Abhishek Nayar’s status

I am not really sure […] I think he is going to play the knockouts. He is just taking this match off. The knockouts start on the 3rd [January 2012] so there are still fifteen more days to go. I think he should be okay.

On the pitch

I haven’t seen the centre pitch, actually. The pitch that we played on right now [at practice] had a lot of help for the fast bowlers. But I am assuming it should be a typical Wankhede pitch with a lot of help in the first session and one that starts swinging towards the end of the day.

On the pressure of playing at the Wankhede after all the away matches

More than the pressure of expectation we are just thrilled about playing at Wankhede after so many years. I think the last match that Mumbai played at Wankhede was three-four years back; after that we haven’t played at the Wankhede. Everyone is really excited to come back to the Wankhede and play at our home ground.

On what playing here means to him

If I score runs and do well behind the stumps, it will be a great feeling. As I said, the ground holds a special place in everyone’s heart so doing well over here will always mean a lot.