Delhi keep misfiring

The world may be busy rating his latest hairdo but India paceman Ishant Sharma was more concerned about news from Valsad, where his best friend was playing his first innings for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy.

The world may be busy rating his latest hairdo but India paceman Ishant Sharma was more concerned about news from Valsad, where his best friend was playing his first innings for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy. Gaurav Chabbra played all his cricket for Delhi juniors as the skipper 8212; a unique record in itself.

He led Ishant and Virat Kohli, even added the India under-19 tag against his name, but lost count of the matches in which he sat on the bench during his transition phase to first-class cricket.

The situation couldn8217;t have been worse when he waked in on Monday. Delhi, chasing 351 for the vital first-innings lead against Gujarat, were 59/3 just after lunch. The 20-year old Chabbra nervously knocked at his first few balls at this level, but soon deciphered the doosra from Mohnish Parmar8217;s famous Muralitharan-like action, and then studied Siddharth Trivedi8217;s late outswing precisely to make a good first impression.

His 63 from 128 balls, with eleven crisp boundaries, showed his intent to attack at every available opportunity, but Chabbra couldn8217;t convert his innings into a big one, falling half an hour before close to a delivery from left-arm paceman Ashraf Makda that came in with the angle and trapped him plumb in front.

Then there was Yogesh Nagar, religiously scoring in junior cricket and repeatedly in and out of the Ranji squad without any playing time. His case may not be dramatic as Chabbra8217;s but Nagar has a chance to make a bigger impression on debut. Coming in at number seven, he was unbeaten on 40, along with Sumit Narhwal on 16, as Delhi finished the second day at 199/6, still 151 runs behind Gujarat.

Forgotten lessons

The 18-year-old Nagar was composed, defending balls without leaving an inch between bat and pad, and stepping out fearlessly to anything tossed up. Together, Chabbra and Nagar taught the experienced players on the sidelines forgotten lessons of concentration, will and determination.

It8217;s premature to suggest that they have solved Delhi8217;s problems for the future 8212; or even finished the job in the match at hand. Their batting, and their 56-run partnership for the sixth wicket, hasn8217;t bailed the team out from the crisis, but it8217;s at least saved the defending Ranji champs some embarrassment.

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The Delhi innings started poorly. Shikhar Dhawan was back in the hut without scoring after opening alongside Punit Bisht, captain Aakash Chopra being kept out by a stomach bug. The skipper came in at number three, only six minutes later than usual, and looked good before Makda had him caught behind, cleverly getting one to move away after two consecutive inswingers.

Chopra8217;s departure meant Delhi had lost all their experienced batsmen. Bisht had already been dismissed, top-edging a pull, and Manhas had slashed outside off to be caught at second slip.

The Gujarat seam trio of Trivedi, Makda and debutant Ishwar Chaudhary bowled a disciplined line, just outside off. Spinner Parmar had Delhi in spot of bother immediately on his introduction, crowding the batsmen with four close-in fielders and getting the ball to spin from the rough.

Earlier in the morning, Delhi8217;s trend of dropping catches and their slackness in the field had continued. Dhawan was again the culprit, dropping Trivedi at slip before he was relegated to the covers as the usually cool Chopra shouted repeatedly at his erring fielders. Overnight batsman Bhavik Thaker found enough time to raise his bat once more, before becoming the last man out for 151.