Delhi tempt, then 'delay' to survive after Himachal whip them in rearguard

New Delhi: A very early and bold declaration by skipper Ayush Badoni, after Delhi had added just 13 runs to their overnight total, was meant to give bowlers time to bowl out Himachal Pradesh and fetch the home lads six points in the Ranji Trophy cricket game that concluded on Tuesday. Every team hopes and expects to yank the maximum from home games to stay in contention for the knockouts.

But so insipid was their bowling that Delhi not just failed to get wickets, they were under threat of losing the match at one point before an injury to Arpit Rana, who was stretchered out, some delaying tactics and bad light forced the stoppage of play for time that was enough to ensure a draw. The two captains shook hands, Ankush Bains, the Himachal Pradesh skipper more grudgingly, and Badoni more disappointedly.

Delhi had thought they would run through the Himachal Pradesh batting by the end of the day and therefore, they had declared very early.

Perhaps they were unaware of the lack of depth and ability in their bowling attack. Besides the impressive Grewal and Navdeep Saini, who was handled without any problem by the visiting batsmen, no one really had the bite. So much so that Badoni had to bring himself and Arpit Rana on for off-spin as the regular spinners and third pace bowler Siddhant Sharma were ineffective.

Grewal got rid of first innings half-centurion Sidhant Purohit in the first over and then removed No. 3 Ankit Kalsi in his second, the innings’ third.

But thereafter, it was hard grind as skipper Ankit Bains (81 not out off 139 balls) and Pukhraj Mann (76 not out off 129 balls) parried Delhi.

Left-arm pace bowler Siddhant Sharma may have had wickets at the under-23 level and could be worthy for white ball cricket but in multi-day format at senior level he was found wanting. Lacking in pace, he was dealt by the two batsmen with great comfort and looked toothless.

Himachal Pradesh and Delhi players shake hands after the end of the game

The spinners Rounak Waghela and Sumit Mathur too could not extract anything from the surface and were milked by the batsmen.  

The 17-year-old Waghela is a talented bowler with great potential but it is far too early to draft him in Ranji Trophy, and risk shattering his confidence. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) needs to make sure he continues at the under-19 level for the moment and maybe at the under-23 level before he develops enough strength in his arms and body to really be a match for top flight.  

Mathur too struggled to purchase wickets.

The pitch was on the flat side but it did have some help for both pacers and spinners and looked good for multi-day cricket.

Hrithik Shokeen may have been a better option and coach Sarandeep Singh, a former India Test off-spinner and a national selector, should have known better.

In a desperate effort for wickets and with time running out, Badoni pressed on with Saini, an India Test bowler who had tilted the game in Delhi’s favour in first innings.  

But Bains negotiated him and reached his fifty following three fours in an over just before drinks in the second session. He clipped one through mid-wicket, pulled one past square leg and then reached the landmark with a cover drive that was caressed more than it was hit.

It was Saini’s ninth over and innings’ 37th and the score moved to 111/2. Himachal were still far behind, needing another 232 to win but it was in their grasp.

Soon after drinks, in the very next over (innings’ 38th) Pukhraj Mann completed fifty off Badoni.  

Then began the onslaught that left Delhi worried.

Mathur, who had a little injury concern in the 43rd before returning to deliver a full toss on the last ball of that over, was hit for a six by Bains. The first ball of the next over by part-timer Arpit Rana was also hit for a six over long on by Mann before an overthrow by a fielder fetched a double. Panic had set in and wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat walked up to the bowler to calm nerves.  

Delhi players, under the cosh came together to discuss, and Saini’s 10th over, the innings’ 44th, took about 8-10 minutes.  

An irritated crowd, high on the boundaries that the Himachal bats were dishing out, screamed for play to resume and began calling out the ‘time-wasting tactic’. Saini looked back and showed the ball to that section of the crowd and said, “Tu ball kar le (You come and bowl)”. It evoked a roar of laughter.

Soon after, the third delivery of that over was hooked for a six by Mann. It was a shot that Test batsmen would have acknowledged with high praise.

But just as Delhi were losing their wit and Himachal had cruised into the 160s, needing 170-odd in 40-odd overs, some relief came in the form of a niggle to Arpit Rana. Rana lay on the floor for a while, must have been 7-8 minutes as the Himachal batsmen, irritated by the break in rhythm, walked up to speak to the umpires. The Delhi opener had to be stretchered out and as per those present, was tended to in the ambulance ‘for hamstring’ before he came back and lay on the massage table outside the boundary.

Soon there was bad light and early tea was called. Between 2.10 pm and 2.40 pm, the scheduled time for tea, only two overs had been bowled.

The game didn’t resume after tea as the umpires again deemed the light as bad. While the umpires use light-meters and therefore have the correct information and the right to call it, the light to naked eye seemed no worse than late on first day when Saini took two wickets in an inspired spell to bring Delhi back into the game.

By the time the sun glowed a bit, the captains agreed to shake hands.

It should be noted that there is no provision for use of floodlights in Ranji Trophy as not all venues have the facility and the Indian cricket board (BCCI) wants to keep some parity.

Delhi walked away with three points but Himachal would be happy to eke out one. It was always going to be tough for them to win against Delhi on the last day, but they’d be proud of bringing the hot tin roof under Delhi’s feet.

Delhi now play Puducherry in the next game at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground from November 1 and Himachal move home to Nadaun (also known as Amtar) to play Hyderabad.

Tags : Ranji Trophy, Delhi, cricket, Himachal Pradesh, BCCI, DDCA, Ayush Badoni, Ankush Bains