Posted On Wednesday, January 02, 2013 at 08:42:00 AM
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Mumbai skipper Zaheer Khan shakes hands with his Gujarat counterpart Parthiv Patel after the hosts refused to chase the target at the DY Patil stadium yesterday
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The equation was simple. Mumbai needed 70 runs in 14 overs for an outright win against Gujarat. They had nine wickets in hand (technically eight as Wasim Jaffer was not on the ground. He had gone home to attend to a family emergency). Kaustubh Pawar (15 runs, 88 balls) and Hiken Shah (42 runs, 54 balls) were at crease and attacking batsmen like Abhishek Nayar and Suryakumar Yadav were in the dressing room.
The 39-time Ranji Trophy winners were on course for their second consecutive win in the group game. Their place in the last-eight of the tournament was almost assured by the virtue of the first innings lead. But then fear took over.
Captain Zaheer Khan and coach Sulakshan Kulkarni called Pawar and Shah back to the pavilion at the beginning of the mandatory overs after tea on the fourth day at the DY Patil Stadium.
They probably weren’t sure that their batsmen could play out 14 overs. They feared loss, the only way that Mumbai wouldn’t have made it to the quarterfinal of the tournament. Kulkarni tried to explain the bizarre and shocking decision that’s nothing but unbecoming of a team that has always been known for it’s pursuit of victory.
“Our main target was to reach the quarter-finals. And either ways there was no incentive for the team finishing second or third, so we settled for a draw,” said Kulkarni, the Mumbai coach. Jaffer’s absence and paceman Zaheer’s inability to bowl on the final day due a calf muscle strain can in no way explain the approach adopted by a side that until three days ago was struggling to stay in contention for a place in this season’s knock-out stage.
Remember Dominica?
The reluctance to go for a win took the mind back to Dominica (July, 2011), West Indies, where the Indian team had not gone for a win when they needed 86 runs in 90 balls with seven wickets in hand. The Indians were the No.1 Test side then and the call was widely criticized.
Captain MS Dhoni had later explained that he didn’t want to lose ranking points in case the team lost and thus didn’t go for the chase and settled for 1-0 series win. Gujarat meanwhile, made a fist of the game they seemed to have lost when they returned to the pavilion on 159-5 at close on day three.
Manprit Juneja who was unbeaten on 39 on Monday missed his century narrowly when he was out to spinner Ankit Chavan, caught brilliantly by Abhishek Nayar at covers for 98.
His partner Chirag Gandhi too batted well for his 64 before he was trapped leg before wicket by Nayar. Suryakumar Yadav took a brilliant catch to account for Kushang Patel at the mid off boundary off Chavan and brought Gujarat’s innings to a close, but Mumbai once again were guilty of putting down catches. This aspect of their fielding has begun giving the side a major headache and Kulkarni conceded they need to find an urgent solution.
“We are generally a good fielding side, but I am concerned about the number of catches we have dropped. You would have seen that we have taken some brilliant catches, but let down some simple ones. I feel it has got to do more with the concentration of the players than their catching ability. We need to improve our focus,” said Kulkarni.
Meanwhile, Mumbai has been boosted by Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to make himself available for the quarter-final tie against Baroda to be played in Mumbai from January 6. Mumbai though are waiting for a final report on Zaheer’s fitness. Kulkarni felt there’s still some time before the selectors take a call on his inclusion.
The Quarter-Finals line-up : Punajb vs Jharkhand in Jamshedpur; Saurashtra vs Karnataka in Rajkot; Mumbai vs Baroda in Mumbai; Uttar Pradesh vs Services in Indore
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05:20:12 PM