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Journalism of Courage
While Mumbai off-spinner Ramesh Powar may have hogged the limelight with his five wicket haul – putting his team on the brink of the Ranji Trophy finals Delhi left-arm spinner Vikas Mishras effort of seven wickets in the match so far has been over-shadowed. Mishra though feels that if his side managed to gain the first-innings lead like they did against Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals,things would have been very different.
Its hard to be happy when your team is in such a situation. When Rajat Bhatia bhai and (Shikhar) Dhawan were batting,we really had high hopes Mishra said,speaking to Sportline. For 17-year-old Mishra,playing his debut Ranji Trophy season and having to perform against domestic champions Mumbai hasnt been an easy task. Coming into the game with a five-wicket haul against Tamil Nadu,Mishra had hoped things would pan out on similar lines,but he soon realized that playing against Mumbai in their backyard is not easy.
Mishras took four wickets for 89 runs in the first innings,but the left-arm spinner showcased his skills in the second. Once the pitch had become conducive to spinners,Mishra was hard to stop. He constantly pitched his deliveries in right areas,forcing the batsmen to rely on their footwork.
On Tuesday,he dismissed Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer with a perfectly flighted delivery which landed on middle-stump and turned sharply to take his outside edge,while wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht completed the formalities. While he extracted sharp turn for his second wicket,the resulting mode of dismissal was different. A defending Vinayak Samant had his off-stump uprooted to send the Delhi team into a frenzy. Sahil Kukreja was out in almost identical fashion,to give him his third.
The pitch was assisting me,so I had an advantage, the lanky spinner added.
With Delhis regular spinner Chetnya Nanda sitting out due to injury,Delhi skipper Rajat Bhatia says his team had to give the youngster a chance. Bhatia later explained it was better to pick a player who has taken five wickets in the last match,rather than going with somebody coming back from a long lay-off.
Powar too,who has been heading Mumbais spin department for a about a decade now,feels Mishra will gain more knowledge about the art with experience. He is just 17 and has a long way to go. He looks good but I think he is bowling a little too quick through the air,which is not helping him. The pitch helped him today,but as he plays more,he will learn to depend on himself, Powar said.
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