Ranji Trophy: With help from Vinay Kumar & Siddharth Kaul, Shreshth Nirmohi returns with career-best haul

“It’s unfortunate that we could not go for the win due to rain but individually speaking, I would rate this as my best bowling performance. The spell against Paras Dogra on the opening day of the match was perhaps my best bowling spell this season. Yes, it was a challenge to bowl after a gap of two days but my focus was to remain in my zone. I had a talk with Vinay Kumar earlier in the day and he told me to bowl in the right areas on such kind of wicket and it helped me. Earlier, I had sought tips from Siddharth Kaul. We talked about fitness and the benefit of a good run-up. He told me to test the new batsman consistently and told me to use the crease by bowling wide and closer to the stumps. The tips definitely helped me and such spells adds to my confidence,” he shared.

Tuesday’s seven-wicket haul was Nirmohi’s fourth five-wicket haul in First Class cricket this season and it meant that the pacer now has a total of 32 wickets in seven matches so far. Earlier this year, Nirmohi was the highest wicket-taker for Chandigarh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the pacer made the shift from Himachal Pradesh to Chandigarh after UTCA got BCCI affiliation. “I have been bowling to my strengths and it has helped me to take wickets consistently. Unfortunately, the team has lost the chance to win 3-4 games due to weather and we could have been on the top of points table if play was possible on all days. Most of the players in the team have performed and it adds to the confidence of each player individually too. We have two matches remaining and our aim will be going for outright wins,” shared Nirmohi.

Outfield problems

While no play was possible on Tuesday due to rain, wet outfield at the stadium meant that no play was possible on Wednesday despite sunny conditions. On Thursday too, play resumed after a delay of more than two hours and only 37 overs could be bowled. With Pondicherry resuming their first innings at 37 for 4, Chandigarh needed only 15 overs to bundle out the visitors to a total of 113 runs to take first inning’s lead. At the end of the match, Chandigarh were 102 for 3 in 22 overs and gathered three points on the basis of first innings’ lead. Chandigarh is now on the third spot in the points table and have bleak chances to qualify for the knock-outs. “We cannot fight nature and I am pleased in a way that UTCA is conducting matches in its first season. Yes, things could have been different for us if the weather had not played its part. The biggest positive for us was the bowling of Shreshth Nirmohi and Jagjit Singh Sandhu’s apart from Manan Vohra’s half century and we would aim to go for outright wins in our nest two matches,” shared UTCA coach VRV Singh.

Pondicherry coach J Arun Kumar sounded disappointed and was of the view that basic things like full covers and super sopper should be available at the venue.  “Our batting was disappointing today and I expected lot more from the boys. Credit goes to Shreshth. The wicket was conducive for batting and it was one of the odd days that our batting failed. After rain happened on the second day, we were aiming to collect six points in the match with a win but there was no time. Having a wet out-field on the third day was disappointing and basic things like full covers and super sopper could have been there,” said Kumar.