Star-less Rlys steam in on glory track

Railways are famously a team that eschews the star system but if there is one person who embodies the spirit that has taken the team to the ...

Railways are famously a team that eschews the star system but if there is one person who embodies the spirit that has taken the team to the Ranji semis, it’s coach Vinod Sharma. It’s also a moment of great vindication for someone severely criticised at the start of the season for the way the team were performing then.

And, speaking to The Indian Express from Bangalore, Sharma had words of praise for his players. ‘‘This Railways squad is a dream team. In my 22 years as coach, this is the best team and I am proud to be part of it,’’ he said.

It was a fitting moment to recall the criticism. ‘‘Several fingers were pointed at me when we began poorly’’, Sharma said. ‘‘Our team was only capable of winning at home (Karnail Singh Stadium), they said, and even questioned my abilities as a coach. It only made us more determined in the remaining matches.’’

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After being transferred to Mumbai in April last year, his future as Railways coach was in doubt. Today’s win and its implications have put Sharma back in the spotlight.

	EXIT LINES

			Delhi • Chaos off the field, confusion on it Gujarat • Patel Rap: Don’t need stars to shine Karnataka • Once upon a time, we had five guys in the national team Andhra Pradesh • One Venugopala can’t make a summer Bengal • Deadbeat without their Dada Baroda • Suffering the Pace Drain Tamil Nadu • Balaji, get well soon Uttar Pradesh • It’s always UP down Maharashtra • Lucky to be here Madhya Pradesh • Were we really all that bad? Assam • The favourites for the drop

The turning point for the Railways, according to Sharma, was the match against Andhra, the team’s fifth round game. ‘‘We put up our best show in the last three games. It was a do-or-die situation for us when we took on MP next. From there onwards, our boys never looked back. Every member of the team contributed. We are happy in the end that we have proved our critics wrong: that the team is capable of winning outside Karnail Singh Stadium also,’’ Sharma said.

He admitted that at one time, especially after the first four rounds when the team tally stood at just two points, there was every possibility of relegation to the Plate Division. Sharma then had to take a couple of drastic steps. ‘‘We replaced the wicketkeeper (Sudhir Wankhede made way for Siddharth Joshi), brought back Yere Goud and shuffled the batting order. It paid rich dividends in the end,’’ he said attributing the reasons for the team’s success.

‘‘By the time we took on Karnataka in Bangalore for our last league game, the team combination had settled down nicely. Our main spinner Parida was the toast of our win over Karnataka because the offie removed Rahul Dravid in both the innings. Despite not getting justice from the national selectors, Parida has been bowling very well this season,’’ Vinod Sharma said.

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One man whose contribution stood out was skipper Sanjay Bangar. ‘‘He scored two half-centuries and shared hundred-plus stands in the last two games. He contributed when it mattered. J P Yadav, Raja Ali, Amit Pagnis, Harvinder … everyone played his part.’’

They now take on Hyderabad at home in the last week of March. A second Ranji Trophy in three years may be a bit too much…but haven’t we heard that before?

BRIEF SCORES

		IN VISAKHAPATNAM Gujarat: 420 all out & 189 all out (Akash Christian 98; Krishna Singh 4/64, K Sahabuddin 3/60) drew with Andhra Pradesh: 314 all out & 222 for 7 (ASK Varma 59, Mohammed Faiq 38 not out; Hitesh Majumdar 3/41, Salil Yadav 3/57) Points: Gujarat 2; Andhra Pradesh 0 IN KOLKATA Madhya Pradesh: 392 all out & 111 for 2 (Naman Ojha 51, Devendra Bundela 50 not out; Utpal Chatterjee 2/45) drew with Bengal: 397 all out (S Ganguly 121, Laxmi Ratan Shukla 81, Devang Gandhi 77; Sanjay Pandey 3/106, Yogesh Golwalkar 3/109) Points: Bengal 2; Madhya Pradesh 0 IN MUMBAI Delhi: 394 all out & 37 for 1 drew with Mumbai: 600 for 9 decl (W Jaffer 122, A Muzumdar 112, Vinit Indulkar 85, Bhavin Thakkar 82, Vinayak Mane 73, Wilkin Mota 55 not out; Ajay Jadeja 4/59) Points: Mumbai 2; Delhi 0 IN VADODARA Baroda: 186 all out & 283 all out (Yousuf Pathan 62, Kiran Powar 51, Connor Williams 50; Ashish W Zaidi 3/58) beat Uttar Pradesh: 124 all out & 203 all out (Suresh Raina 53; Zaheer Khan 5/94) Points: Baroda 4; Uttar Pradesh 0 IN BANGALORE Karnataka: 194 all out & 241 all out (Sujith Somasunder 58; Jai P yadav 3/24, Kulamani Parida 3/84) lost to Railways: 299 all out & 137 for 3 (Jai P Yadav 52 not out, Amit Pagnis 41; C Ragavendra 2/18) Points: Railways 4; Karnataka 0 IN CHENNAI Tamil Nadu: 277 all out & 259 for 8 decl (Dinesh Kaarthick 58, C Hemanth Kumar 58, S Vidyut 48) beat Maharashtra: 175 all out & 170 all out (H Kanitkar 48, Dhiraj Jadhav 47; R Ramkumar 4/55) Points: Tamil Nadu 4; Maharashtra 0

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