Ranji Trophy 2014: Mumbai go off rails in a session

Only Number 9 Javed Khan, who top scored with a 30-ball 27, saved Mumbai that ignominy.

When Mumbai lost their first match of the Ranji season to Jammu & Kashmir, the result was hailed as a giant upset. That outcome was seen as an aberration. The adjective — 40-time champions — was thrown about. Surely khadoos Mumbai, would find a way to bounce back. Ahead of their second match against Railways they had made all the right noises. Captain Suryakumar Yadav spoke of the “hurt” his players had felt. When play was rained out, he showed intent by leading his team out on the field with sponges to dry out the outfield in an attempt to get the match started quickly. The game had ultimately deteriorated to a single innings shootout and Railways had got to 242.

When it was Mumbai’s turn to bat however, an uneasy feeling set in. Sure the conditions were helpful to the bowlers and pitch only two days old. Yes Mumbai had lost seniors to injury and national duty, had a debutant in their side and two more playing their first season. And yet like children wearing their parents uniform, the visiting team at the Karnail Stadium never realistically looked like owning the tag of 40-time champions. There was little of the city’s legendary reputation for tenacity as the side resuming from an overnight 24/3 lasted a little over two hours before being dismissed for 101 on the morning of the final day. You would have to go back 12 years to find a scorecard with Mumbai falling for an even lower total.

Apart from a hollowed team structure, Mumbai had shown signs of weaknesses in technique as well. J&K coach Sunil Joshi had hinted as much. For the the first time in the last 20 years, Joshi said that he saw Mumbai batsmen “showing vulnerability against pace bowling.”

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Joshi’s statement played out precisely in Mumbai’s innings at the Karnail Stadium field. On Tuesday evening two of the three wickets to fall – openers Sushant Marathe and Bravish Shetty – had been picked up by Anureet Singh and Krishnakant Upadhyay respectively. The other wicket — Aditya Tare – was a run out.

On Wednesday morning, the last seven wickets all fell to the seamers. Anureet Singh who bowled fourteen unchanged overs finished with four (4/35) while Upadhyay (2/37) and Ranjit Mali (3/27) took the others. Initially it had appeared that Mumbai might make a fight of the matter as Hiken Shah and Surya Kumar Yadav looked to bat out the first hour of play. Luck too appeared to be with them. Yadav, who scored a century against J&K, was caught at second slip by Nitin Bhille off a no-ball by Upadhyay when on 16.

With plenty of overs in hand , Mumbai simply needed a few partnerships. But the reprieve off Upadhyay was a mere blip in how their day would proceed. The collapse would be triggered even as Upadhyay was replaced by Mali in the 10th over of the day. Mali struck immediately, trapping Shah (26) in front. The wicket was part of a collapse that saw Mumbai losing six wickets for 18 runs. When Shreyas Iyer (11), one of only four batsmen to get to double figures, and Vishal Dhabolkar were dismissed lbw by Anureet in the 35th over Mumbai, at 70/9 were 22 runs from the follow on.

Only Number 9 Javed Khan, who top scored with a 30-ball 27, saved Mumbai that ignominy. The visitors only got 9 runs past that sad figure before last man Badre Alam became the sixth lbw wicket of the innings to Upadhyay. However even that number was significant. With 53 overs still remaining in the day, it was uncertain whether this squad would have managed to see off that period. Ultimately they might have been glad that the Railways took some batting practice rather than attempting to set a target.

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Brief scores: Railways 242 & 136/4 (A Kaushik 41, A Ghosh 38) drew with Mumbai 101 in 43 overs (Anureet Singh 4/35, Ranjit Mali 3/27, K Upadhyay 2/37). Points: Railways 3, Mumbai 1.

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