Phadkar’s ‘daddy hundred’ saved the day
   Date :26-May-2020

Phadkar_1  H x
 
 
By Anupam Soni :
 
ROMANCE of Test cricket is not always in winning. Sometimes, a well-earned draw gives more satisfaction and pleasure even than a victory. And the fight, that helps in snatching a creditable draw from jaws of defeat, remains etched in memory forever. Vidarbha cricket was served one such memory by then middle-order mainstay Suhas Phadkar. The match was a 1983-84 Ranji Trophy Central Zone League encounter between Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh, played at VCA Civil Lines Ground. Madhya Pradesh had won the toss and decided to make first use of the turf. Skipper and opener Sanjeeva Rao (188) was unlucky to have missed out on what would have been a well-deserved double hundred.
 

sanjeeva rao_1   
 
 
A run out cut short his journey. In a career spanning more than fifteen years, the talented right-handed batsmen hit seven hundreds in his 100 First-Class innings but could never better that mark. With useful contributions from the blades of M Hassan (50), N Bagtheria (368) and RS Parihar (29), the visitors declared their first innings at 373-8 in 113 overs. Vidarbha’s right-arm medium pacer Vikas Gawate picked four wickets while left-arm spinner Hemant Wasu picked up a couple. Now, it was Vidarbha’s turn to take strike. But the left-right combination of MP seamers wreaked havoc. While left-arm seamer Syed Gulrez Ali (19.3-9-27-7) ran through the innings for his best FC figures, the right-arm pacer Gopal Rao (3-64) supported him from the other end.
 
The duo almost bowled unchanged in the entire match. Gulrez Ali, who made his debut in 1964-65, had to wait for 19 long years to pick his career best show. Vidarbha had a poor scorecard of 91 all out in 40.3 overs. “He (Ali) would bowl those armers very effectively and we could not pick him well in the first innings. But in the second, I told my batsmen to play him on the front foot and not on backfoot. That worked for us as we succeeded in keeping him wicketless,” Phadkar told ‘The Hitavada’ while recalling Ali’s performance in the match.
 
“Gulrez was son of famous Mushtaq Ali (who scored first overseas Test century by an Indian player when he scored 112 against England at Old Trafford in 1936) and father of Abbas Ali, who also went on to play for MP. Gulrez used to bowl medium pace with new ball and would shift to spin when the ball got soft,” Phadkar informed. For the hosts, all-rounder opener Praveen Hinganikar (28) was the top scorer. Only four batsmen reached double digits while an equal number of batsmen could not open their accounts. Vidarbha were naturally asked to follow on. Facing a huge defeat that was looming large, somebody from Vidarbha was needed to play a big innings. “After our first innings collapse, Raju Dhanwate (VCA Secretary) called Team Manager Rahim bhai and me.
 
He said that if I stood there (on the pitch) then only the team can be saved. I promised him that we will put up a fight and won’t give up easily,” said Phadkar, who is presently Chairman, Senior Selection Committee VCA (Ranji Trophy and Under-23). Hinganikar (44) again got a good start but when the hosts were reeling at 95-3, the duo of Phadkar (161) and Sunil Hedaoo (88) joined forces. “It was a good partnership of 232 for the fourth wicket with Sunil (Hedaoo). I curtailed my natural aggressive play and showed a lot of patience so that I could stay there till the end.
 
Sunil and I played for the same bank and thus we had good understanding. We used to talk a lot between overs and share our strategies. When we settled down, we thought it was possible that we can play time,” said Phadkar on the match-saving partnership. Phadkar’s score till date remains the best score by a Vidarbha batsmen while following on. With pride resurrected, Vidarbha declared their second innings at 6-394 in 144 overs. The opponents who used just two bowlers (the third bowled just one over) in the entire first innings, tried as many as eight bowlers with Phadkar getting out to part-timer Talwar. Set a target of 113 runs, Madhya Pradesh openers scored 34 runs in seven overs as the match ended in a draw. “Finally, we came out with a very creditable draw.
 
I was told that I missed Anil Deshpande’s Vidarbha record (top score) of 164 runs narrowly. But in a couple of years, I got the first double hundred for Vidarbha versus Uttar Pradesh in 1988-89 season. I was also informed that both captains hitting a ton in a Vidarbha Ranji match also happened for the first time in that game. “Satisfied with our performance, Dhanwate threw a dinner party for both the teams at Naivedyam Hotel situated at Rani Jhansi Square. In those days a draw was as good as a win for Vidarbha,” Phadkar signed
 
 
 
Match: Vidarbha vs Madhya Pradesh Ranji Trophy Central Zone League,
1983-84 at VCA Civil Lines Ground. It was a three-day match.
Result: Following on, Vidarbha drew the match.
Highlights
It was a first century for Suhas Phadkar (161) in Ranji Trophy. It is still the best score for Vidarbha after following-on. (only four more batsmen have done this for Vidarbha — Anil Deshpande (137*), Umakant Phate (102*), Faiz Fazal (131) & Akshay Wadkar (122*).
n Praveen Hinganikar & Bhojraj Alot made debut while it was last match for Jayantilal Rathod & Bhaskar Joshi. — Dilip Singh Upring
 
 
 
The Hitavada Scoreboard
 
 
MADHYA PRADESH 1ST INNINGS: Sanjeeva Rao run out 188, S Ansari c Phadkar b Gawate 10, R Talwar lbw b Gawate 7, M Hassan b Wasu 50, Gopal Rao b Wasu 11, S Gulrez Ali c Aney b Gawate 9, S Deshmukh c Hedaoo b Gawate 8, RS Parihar lbw b Pankule 29, N Bagtheria Not Out 36, A Wagh Not Out 2. Extras: (b 10, lb 12, nb 1) 23. TOTAL: (8 wkts declared, 113 overs) 373. FoW: 1-25,
2-35, 3-143, 4-167, 5-191, 6-199, 7-278, 8-356. Bowling: Joshi 17-4-60-0, Gawate 30-5-96-4, Wasu 25-0-67-2, Pankule 28-5-78-1, Bhatt 10-1-35-0, Phadkar 3-0-15-0.
VIDARBHA 1ST INNINGS: J Rathod b Gulrez Ali 2, P Hinganikar c Wagh b Gopal Rao 28, R Pankule lbw b Gulrez Ali 4, S Hedaoo c Wagh b Gopal Rao 11, B Alot lbw b Gulrez Ali 0, S Phadkar c Wagh b Gulrez Ali 0, V Gawate c Wagh b Gopal Rao 15, H Wasu b Gulrez Ali 14, P Aney Not Out 9, J Bhatt b Gulrez Ali 0, B Joshi c&b Gulrez Ali 0. Extras: (w 1, nb 7) 8. TOTAL (All out, 40.3 overs) 91. FoW: 1-18, 2-26, 3-37, 4-37, 5-37, 6-64, 7-72, 8-87, 9-87. Bowling: Gopal Rao 20-4-64-3, Gulrez Ali 19.3-9-27-7, Bagtheria 1-1-0-0.
VIDARBHA 2ND INNINGS (following on): J Rathod c Hassan b Ansari 1, P Hinganikar c Parihar b Gopal Rao 44, R Pankule run out 5, S Hedaoo c Wagh b Ansari 88, B Alot lbw b Bagtheria 20, S Phadkar lbw b Talwar 161, V Gawate Not Out 26, H Wasu Not Out 23. Extras: (b 11, lb 9, w 1, nb 5) 26. TOTAL: (6 wkts decl, 144 overs) 394. FoW: 1-10, 2-63, 3-95, 4-327, 5-342, 6-355. Bowling: Gopal Rao 21-3-93-1, Gulrez Ali 38-14-68-0, Bagtheria 31-8-58-1, Karan Singh 9-3-34-0, Ansari 16-1-45-2, Hassan 12-3-30-0, Talwar 16-3-37-1, Sanjeeva Rao 1-0-9-0. MADHYA PRADESH 2ND INNINGS (Target: 113 runs): Sanjeeva Rao Not Out 7, S Ansari Not Out 20. Extras: (w 1, nb 6) 7. TOTAL (No loss, 7 overs) 34. Bowling: Joshi 3-0-3-0, Gawate 3-0-12-0, Alot 1-0-19-0.