When Railways felt the Underdog’s Bite
| Date :19-May-2020 |
By Anupam Soni :
AN OUTRIGHT victory in the longer format of cricket is most satisfying as it is real test of skill and character of the players. The joy of winning gets multiplied when it comes after a long time and against opponents who behave like they have won the match a day before. There was a time in domestic cricket when Vidarbha were not better than the sitting ducks. But cricket has got the tag of being a game of glorious uncertainties for some reasons.
Vidarbha humbled Railways in their own den at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi by 165 runs in the Ranji Trophy Central Zone League in 1992-93. Set 256 for a win, Railways were shot out for a mere 90 in their second innings with last nine wickets falling for 51 runs. Vidarbha skipper all-rounder Praveen Hinganikar led from the front and had an excellent match. Professional import Sulakshan Kulkarni stood like a rock on a rank turner, pacer Trevor Gonsalves used the new ball well in the first innings while spinning duo of Pritam Gandhe and Hemant Wasu chipped in with their contributions in Vidarbha’s emphatic win that came after a whopping 37 matches spanned over nine seasons. In between, they might have had first innings lead in some drawn encounters but an outright win had eluded them for a long, long time. “We enjoyed the victory more because at the end of third day’s play, Railways players were behaving like they have already won the match.
They were well placed at 39-1 and were very happy and confident that they would win. “It was very cold in December in Delhi. There was fog also and the match started about half an hour late on the fourth and final morning. Pritam (Gandhe) took early scalps that helped immensely and then I took wickets from the other end. We surprised them with our bowling and before they could think of anything it was all over for them just into second session of the final day,” said Hinganikar going nostalgic while narrating the story to ‘The Hitavada’. Winning the toss, Vidarbha decided to make first use of the turf. Manoj Gogte (28) and Hinganikar (52; 50b, 68m, 7x4, 1x6) gave the team a flying start adding 81 runs. Later Kulkarni (91; 246b, 301m, 11x4) dropped anchor at one end and played for over five hours. Gandhe (46) and the tail also played their part as the team scored 352. Railways’ right-arm seamer Iqbal Thakur returned with a five-wicket haul. Vidarbha’s right-arm pacer Gonsalves (4-67) made the new ball talk and soon Railways were 3-17 in their first innings. Wasu (3-45) took three wickets while Rajesh Gawande (2-37) chipped in with a couple. Half centuries from Kishore Sharma (61) and Manvinder Singh (53) helped Railways manage 216 but the team got additional 61 runs as bonus.
“I don’t exactly remember the calculation but the penalty was for slow over rate...something like double the run-rate for the lost overs,” said Hinganikar. “After our decent score, first innings lead was crucial. It was very important and one of the turning points of the match,” said Kulkarni on the vital lead. In Vidarbha second innings, Kulkarni (67; 156b, 184m, 5x4) again batted well with middle and lower order batsmen once Hinganikar (43; 32b, 4x4, 2x6) departed after a quickfire knock. “No doubt about it, Kulkarni was brilliant in both the innings. The pitch was turning like anything at one end while the other end was okay. We both batted well in that game. Our runs in both innings, particularly in the second innings, when we got out for 180, turned out to be very crucial,” said Hinganikar in praise of his professional colleague. Railways’ Madhya Pradesh left-arm spinner Manish Majithia was the most successful bowler with six scalps. In pursuit of 256, Railways started well and were 39-1 by the end of third day’s play.“At one stage when they were nine down, Gandhe and I were locked at four wickets each while one batsman was run out. There was competition among us as to who will complete five-wicket haul. We both bowled some 8-9 overs combined in the end and fortunately it was me who got lucky. I bowled Iqbal Thakur with an inswinger that uprooted his middle stump,” said Hinganikar with a ringing laugh. Hero with the bat, Kulkarni, too, was a satisfied soul. “It pleases and satisfies every player to be able to contribute in a winning cause...whatever the type of match it be.
And it was a Ranji Trophy match. I was playing as a professional and I felt happy that I could help my team win. It was one of my memorable matches for Vidarbha. It was not a good wicket to bat on but that was my speciality...I could bat spinners well even on square turners. “I will give much credit to Praveen for taking five wickets in the fourth innings of a match in India. It was a very creditable effort. He was not a regular bowler then and was just developing to be a regular one. He had a very good inswinger and exploited it well in that game. Pritam was his usual best in the fourth innings. “Vidarbha winning a Ranji game itself was a big achievement then. Vidarbha losing was no news and Vidarbha winning was a big news in those days,” Kulkarni signed off.
Match: Vidarbha vs Railways Ranji Trophy Central Zone League, 1992-93 at Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi.
Result: Vidarbha won by 165 runs.
Highlights
n Before this match, Vidarbha’s outright victory came against Rajasthan on Nov 22, 1983. In between these two wins, total 37 matches were played spanning nine seasons. Most matches played between two outright victories for Vidarbha is 38 (from Dec 18, 1993 to Nov 27, 2002).
n It was first of the two five-wkt hauls for Praveen Hinganikar. The all-rounder has three centuries and two five-wkt hauls in Ranji Trophy and all of his top performances have come against Railways.
Stats: Dilip Singh Upring
The Hitavada Scoreboard
VIDARBHA 1ST INNINGS: M Gogte lbw b Sharma 28, P Hinganikar c Shepherd b Sharma 52, S Kulkarni lbw b Bharatan 91, S Gujar lbw b Thakur 19, Y Ghare st Abhay Sharma b Majithia 5, U Ghani c Chadha b Sharma 11, H Wasu c Shepherd b Thakur 22, R Gawande b Thakur 29, P Gandhe lbw b Thakur 46, T Gonsalves c Yusuf Ali Khan b Thakur 23, H Huddar Not Out 1. Extras: (b 1, lb 9, w 12, nb 3) 25. TOTAL: (All out, 114.4 overs) 352. FoW: 1-81, 2-102, 3-144, 4-149, 5-180, 6-230, 7-254, 8-324, 9-341. Bowling: Mishra 14-1-45-0, Thakur 42.4-7-113-5, Sharma 30-6-104-3, Bharatan 19-9-52-1, Majithia 9-1-28-1. RAILWAYS 1ST INNINGS: Yusuf Ali Khan c Gawande b Gonsalves 8, R Chadha c Kulkarni b Gonsalves 7, P Shepherd b Gonsalves 0, R Adat Rao c Ghani b Gawande 2, Manvinder Singh c Kulkarni b Wasu 53, Abhay Sharma c Ghani b Hinganikar 22, K Bharatan b Gonsalves 25, M Majithia c Huddar b Wasu 5, K Sharma c Ghare b Gawande 61, D Mishra lbw b Wasu 14, IA Thakur Not Out 9. Extras: (lb 5, w 3, nb 2) 10. (Bonus Runs 61). TOTAL: (All out, 56.1 overs) 277. FoW: 1-10, 2-12, 3-17, 4-29, 5-88, 6-116, 7-130, 8-134, 9-177, 10-216. Bowling: Gonsalves 16-1-67-4, Gawande 12.1-1-37-2, Hinganikar 9-2-35-1, Gandhe 8-0-24-0, Wasu 9-3-45-3, Huddar 2-1-3-0. VIDARBHA 2ND INNINGS: M Gogte lbw b Bharatan 8, P Hinganikar lbw b Majithia 43, S Kulkarni c Abhay Sharma b Thakur 67, S Gujar lbw b Majithia 3, Y Ghare lbw b Majithia 16, U Ghani lbw b Sharma 4, H Wasu c Abhay Sharma b Majithia 6, R Gawande lbw b Majithia 3, P Gandhe Not Out 13, T Gonsalves c Shepherd b Thakur 1, H Huddar c&b Majithia 2. Extras: (b 2, lb 12) 14. TOTAL: (All out, 67.4 overs) 180. FoW: 1-52, 2-52, 3-64, 4-82, 5-100, 6-125, 7-139, 8-175, 9-177. Bowling: Mishra 3-0-29-0, Thakur 15-2-42-2, Sharma 11-3-16-1, Bharatan 14-5-22-1, Majithia 24.4-4-57-6. RAILWAYS 2ND INNINGS (Target: 256 runs): Y Khan lbw b Gandhe 16, R Chadha c Gujar b Gandhe 31, P Shepherd b Gandhe 0, R Adat Rao c Gujar b Hinganikar 4, M Singh run out 4, A Sharma c&b Hinganikar 0, K Bharatan b Hinganikar 0, M Majithia c Gujar b Gandhe 2, K Sharma Not Out 13, D Mishra c Gogte b Hinganikar 7, I Thakur b Hinganikar 5. Extras: (b 6, lb 2) 8. TOTAL: (All out, 42.5 overs) 90. FoW: 1-39, 2-46, 3-51, 4-51, 5-57, 6-61, 7-63, 8-69, 9-82. Bowling: Gonsalves 8-2-16-0, Gawande 6-3-14-0, Hinganikar 15.5-6-25-5, Gandhe 13-2-27-4. n