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T20 Mumbai’s stars off the field reveal their favourite moments from Season 2

They also revealed the name of the team that they believe will go all the way this season.

While the league’s players have been hard at work for the past couple of weeks in their quest for the T20 Mumbai crown, our star-studded cast of commentators and presenters have also been working tirelessly to provide the spectators with the best coverage possible.

Since they have been closely observing every game and monitoring every player in the league, their assessment and predictions would naturally be as good as any out there. So, we decided to ask our commentary team of Charu Sharma, Gautam Bhimani, Milind Rege, Manish Batavia and our presenter Karishma Kotak to pick their favourite moments from Season 2 and also reveal the name of the team that they believe will be crowned champions on Sunday.

Here's what they had to say:

Karishma Kotak

Our fine presenter believes there were several jaw dropping moments in the tournament, but sided with Rakesh Prabhu’s spectacular knock of 64* as her dearest.

“The game between the Eagle Thane Strikers and the NaMo Bandra Blasters was my favourite. The fact that it finished within 12 overs thanks to Rakesh Prabhu's eight sixes was amazing.”

Pick to win

“I can't say who will be the favourites to win the trophy because in T20 anything can happen. That being said, I would like Prithvi Shaw's team to win. It would have been either him or Shreyas Iyer's team but now that they are out, I'd want the Panthers to win.”

Charu Sharma

Charu Sharma picked not one but two innings that stood out for him the most this season and also had high praise for SuperSonics' skipper Jay Bista.

“For me, Shubham Ranjane's knock against the North Mumbai Panthers was one of the high points of the season. That knock was magical. He took his team from a near impossible situation to victory with two balls to spare. Another magical knock I'd like to point out is Shivam Dube's knock of 87 against the NaMo Bandra Blasters. Unfortunately, the Shivaji Park Lions couldn’t win and some people were critical of his decision to not take the singles towards the end so he could finish the game with the big sixes. He displayed enormous confidence and that shows there's a special all-rounder in there.”

Pick to win

“I love the SoBo SuperSonics. They don’t have a huge star in the team but are being fantastically led by Jay Bista. He’s magical in the field and that level of athleticism and commitment and his will to lead from the front means a lot to the team. So I quite fancy the SoBo SuperSonics.”

Gautam Bhimani

Having covered and been around the Indian Cricket Team for over a decade, Gautam Bhimani has a ton of great stories to tell and he shared a very special one from 2011.

“I have many memories of the Wankhede, but the most endearing is of course the World Cup 2011 final (which India won). Never mind the guys who won it, my favourite moment then was a little 12-year-old by the name of Arjun Tendulkar watch his father lift the World Cup for the first time. I interviewed Arjun after the World Cup final and (after all these years) when I came here for Season 2, the first game that I covered, he picked up three wickets after being hit for runs in the first over. And I once again interviewed him post that inning and that for me was my favourite moment.”

Pick to win

“The Aakash Tigers are my pick to win the tournament. They are my sentimental favourite and we all need to have one I believe. They are a new team and not many people know about them. But, if I had to choose, I’d pick the Tigers.”

Manish Batavia

Manish Batavia, too, is backing the North Mumbai Panthers for a very specific reason and shared a fond memory from the night where Sujit Nayak launched a guided missile through a car window.

“I was very excited to see what Mumbai's best cricketers had to offer and while I have enjoyed what I've seen, there’s this one destructive, in a good way, moment that I loved. This tall, strong figure of Sujit Nayak hit one bang from the middle of the bat and smashed into that beautiful Skoda and broke the window on the passenger side. It was a great moment for the fans, great for the camera. I spoke to him after the game and he told me that his captain, Shreyas Iyer was eyeing that car and hence, he planned to leave a dent or two on it! So, that was a really special moment.”

Pick to win

“I tilt a bit towards Prithvi Shaw and his team. Like every short batsman in Mumbai, I have this special connect with him. From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar to now Prithvi Shaw. Of course I’m not trying to compare him to those two men, but he evokes a special kind of emotion when I’m on air and he’s a special player and I'd like to see him score a big one. He wears no. 100, we are yet to see a century in T20 Mumbai. The story writes itself.”

Milind Rege

Like Karishma Kotak, Milind Rege really enjoyed Rakesh Prabhu's incredible knock and true to the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket, stayed clear of picking a favourite for the title.

"It's got to be Rakesh Prabhu's knock. I've never seen that kind of hitting this year. It was an impossible game to win and to score those 140-odd runs in just 12 overs on a wicket that was so slow and difficult to bat, that was truly the best moment of the league. The Eagle Thane Strikers deserved to play the next game, unfortunate they missed out."

Pick to win

"I don't think any team has played to a certain level that says they are the best team. The performances have been up and down so I feel anybody can win. I am unable to pin point to a favorite because every team has played the same level."

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