Rest win, India gain

At 3.43 p.m. on Saturday, as seamer Joginder Sharma sent Avishkar Salvi8217;s stump cartwheeling, Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit closed hi...

At 3.43 p.m. on Saturday, as seamer Joginder Sharma sent Avishkar Salvi8217;s stump cartwheeling, Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit closed his register 8212; in which he8217;d been making notes since morning 8212; and went inside the team dressing room to pack his bag. His 8216;champion8217; wards, who had just suffered a humiliating 290-run defeat at the hands of Rest of India in Irani Trophy, followed the suit.

If the discipline-loving Pandit was dejected at his team8217;s performance, the rest of India will be heartened at some of the performances for the Rest of India. Few were worried if Wasim Jaffar got out cheaply or Sairaj Bahutule failed to take wickets; the good news was that Parthiv Patel scored a half-century in both the innings and Zaheer Khan wielded his bat like a prized sword after bowling in tandem with SS Paul, the toofani bowler from West Bengal8217;s Tufanganj.

Mumbai8217;s loss was India8217;s gain.

A look at the teams selected for the four-day practice match between India seniors and India 8216;A8217; proves the point. Besides Aakash Chopra, Parthiv Patel, Zaheer Khan and Dinesh Mongia, who failed with the bat but impressed with his leadership skills, many fringe players also made it to the list after a good outing at Mohali. S Sriram made a strokeful 77 in the first innings; Gautam Gambhir8217;s scores of 39 and 30 were decent enough considering that he had to face the new ball in seamer-friendly conditions; Murali Kartik took only three wickets but his 56 in the first innings and 104-run partnership with Patel put Rest in the driver8217;s seat; SS Paul8217;s feat was almost 8212; though not quite 8212; overshadowed by Zaheer8217;s performance but the selectors were watching; Vizag lad Y Venugopal Rao scored the only ton of the match and Joginder Sharma deserved to be rewarded for his good length bowling. No wonder when it came to drawing out the positives from last four days of some good quality cricket, the Rest, unlike their sullen Mumbai friends, left the PCA Stadium with their hands full.

Scoreboard

Rest of India 1st innings: 314
Mumbai 1st innings: 198
Rest of India 2nd innings: 378 A Chopra 41, Y Venugapala 113, P Patel 68, Zaheer Khan 60; Salvi 3/82, Morris 2/95, Bahutule 3/92, Powar 3/92.
Mumbai 2nd innings: 204 V Mane 41, Joginder 3/40, Kartik 2/49, Golwalkar 2/24.