Ranji Trophy: Young Royston Dias announces himself on the big stage

On Thursday, Royston Dias ended Gujarat’s resistance with a three-for to leave Gujarat on 232 for 8, still trailing Mumbai by 65.

Young Dias announces himself on the big stage

Royston Dias, playing his fourth match, nailed Priyank Panchal with a ripper. PTI

Two months ago, around 3 in the night, a worried Royston Dias woke up the Mumbai team manager Armaan Mallick, along with coach Vinayak Samant. The young 25-year-old left-arm pacer had lost his father few minutes ago and Dias wanted the manager to help him to get to Mumbai at the earliest. As Dias left to attend the last rites of his father, who was also his coach, Mumbai team was in a fix whether to call a replacement for Dias or not. Mumbai were set to play a match in Bangalore, one day after the funeral.

They waited till afternoon before they hesitantly asked Dias whether he wishes to join the team in such circumstances. They were stunned when Dias said he wanted to play and that he would join the team in the evening. Next day, he ended up with 2 for 36 as Mumbai defeated Goa by seven wickets.

“We were in a fix what to do, whether to call him or not. It’s a great personal loss but Dias said he wanted to travel to Bangalore and joined the team. Playing a game just a day after attending father funeral takes big heart and it showed his character,” Mallick recalled. Despite his ability to swing and generate good bounce from the short of the length, it took some time for the young left-arm pacer to make it to the Mumbai Ranji team playing eleven.

Story continues below this ad

On Thursday, he ended Gujarat’s resistance with a three-for to leave Gujarat on 232 for 8, still trailing by 65. It took a beauty from Dias to break the 49-run opening partnership. He produced a curler to take out Gujarat’s Priyank Panchal: the ball swung in sharply to take the inside edge enroute to the keeper, a left-armer’s dream delivery.

A brush with Tendulkar

Dias has impressed everyone since a famous Mumbai’s net session at Wankhede Stadium in 2013. He hit headline in local newspaper when he bowled first ball bouncer to Sachin Tendulkar in Ranji Trophy nets. “Tendulkar was coming to bat and it was a great moment for me. I don’t know what was running through my mind at that time, but I bowled a bouncer. Tab baccha tha yaar (I was a kid),” Dias recalled.

On Thursday, those bouncers did the trick as it helped Mumbai to comeback in the game against Gujarat.

After taking opener Panchal earlier in the day, Dias removed Roosh Kalaria and Piyush Chawla in quick succession in the evening to put Mumbai in a good position.

Story continues below this ad

He perfectly planned Chawla’s dismissal. He went round the stumps and fired a bouncer before angling one away from short of length that induced a nick behind to the ‘keeper. “When someone is trying to score of you, just hit him on the helmet with a bouncer,” he had once said.

Gujarat, who came in this tournament without Parthiv Patel, out on national duty, face a big task ahead. Though their openers Kathan Patel and Panchal countered in the early phase, Mumbai came back via Dias. Then, Dhawal Kulkarni struck with a legcutter to have the other opener Kathan caught behind the stumps. Manpreet Juneja and Rujul Bhatt showed some resistance but the medium-pace allrounder Shivam Dubey had one move away a touch to produce an edge from Juneja. Soon Bhatt, who made a confident 41, gave a low catch to Armaan Jaffer at short covers off the offspinner Jay Bista.

Dhruv Raval showed some positive intent for his unbeaten 60, but it won’t be easy for him to drag Gujarat to a lead.

Brief scores: Mumbai 297 all out lead Gujarat 232/8 (Dhruv Raval 60 not out, Manprit Juneja 37, Royston Dias 3-52) by 65 runs.

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.