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Ranji Trophy 4th round
You're never too old for Santa and a six orgy
Sriram Veera
December 22, 2006
Christmas gift
Mumbai have got into the spirit of the season. First they gifted Bengal a first-innings lead and follow-on; this time Hyderabad were the happy recipients as they recorded their first-ever win over Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. It didn't come gift-wrapped though; Hyderabad had to wait for it till the very end, with less than three overs left. Ah well, better late than never.
The old man would have approved
Your team's struggling at 103 for 5 and staring at a follow-on in the evening; your father passes away early the next morning. What do you do? Virat Kohli chose to bat for his Delhi. His family was not so sure. They decided to let the boy play after making sure he would return home in time for the funeral. Kohli, playing in his first Ranji season, hit a fluent 90 to lift his team out of the ditch. "The family elders were in two minds and were objecting but it was finally decided that Virat will go and play - even his father would have wanted the same," said his brother Vikas Kohli. After getting out, he came back to the dressing room, removed his pads and watched the replay of his dismissal. 'Not out,' was his verdict and he went to the crematorium.
Six orgy
Not strictly Ranji Trophy - not yet. Schoolboy Shardul Thakur stormed into the Mumbai schools record books by hammering six sixes in an over in the plate division of the Harris Shield schools cricket tournament. Playing for Swami Vivekanand School, Thakur spanked spinner Vishal Dhruv, of S Radhakrishnan school, over the cow corner repeatedly. His score? 160 off just 73 deliveries. Sir Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri managed the same feat but only after they became men. Welcome to the new brave world.
You're never too old for Santa
Ask Ashish Malhotra of Delhi. At 33 he might be making his debut, having been included as a replacement for the injured Kuunal Lall in the squad for the next two games. His day job is with CII: "I had to seek a job to get some financial security and so I got into the corporate world, though I always felt something missing from my life," Ashish told Hindustan Times. He's now decided to buy back his soul. "I realised that my heart lies in cricket and playing the sport was what I needed to do. I decided to work my way back. It wasn't easy, but...I knew the amount of hard work I needed to put in to get myself back fit and in reckoning."
Asked whether he considers himself a newcomer or a veteran, Malhotra said: "I don't know...it's up to you guys to decide, but I feel very much like a newcomer, learning things and working my way through. I firmly believe that if you persist, you prevail." Proof that persistence pays ... and evidence that Santa exists.
Clear and present danger
Mumbai, the former giants of Ranji Trophy, stand at the brink. After conceding first-innings leads in their opening two games, and losing the third, they run the risk of not only not qualifying for the semi-finals but being delegated to the Plate. Unthinkable yet not improbable. More bad news in store as Ajit Agarkar will again miss out as he is yet to recover from his groin injury.
Trouble in the capital
The usual selection mess. Rahul Sanghvi,the left-arm spinner, was retained in the team for the next two matches. The selectors had given Sanghvi the option to "opt out". Nice try. Sanghvi, a veteran of 95 first-class matches, decided to exercise his choice and chose to stay on.
Meanwhile, on field Chetnya Nanda was fined 20% of his match fee following a complaint by the umpire PS Godbole. Man proposes, God disposes but Nanda doesn't agree with that adage. Excessive aggressive appeals and tantrums were thrown. "Bad behaviour" was the match referee Divakar Vasu's verdict.
And the Nehra corner
After blowing hot and cold in the first two matches, pulling out of the third mid-way with a stomach bug, all eyes were on Ashish Nehra. He toiled manfully in the first innings, sending down 36 overs and picked up four Karnataka wickets for 171 runs but only bowled four overs in the second innings. He was reportedly "reserved" for the away matches. Sensible move from captain Mithun Manhas, especially considering that our man had boomed in an earlier round that "Don't expect me to bowl the way I did today again on such dead tracks." Instead everybody else, barring the wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht and the injured Kunnal Lall, shared the burden.
Sriram Veera is editorial assistant of Cricinfo
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