When Knight Krishna Kumar shone in the dark! Time Travel
| Date :05-May-2020 |
By Anupam Soni :
WHEN the result came it was 5.40 pm. The official scorers sitting below the NMC pavilion at the VCA Civil Lines Stadium were doing their job with a tubelight on. And this was no Day-Night match! It was month of January and mid-winter meant the Sun was setting earlier, making it dark much sooner. In those days, if the captains agreed, the match would go on till the completion of the required number of (mandatory) overs.
The Vidarbha versus Rajasthan Ranji Trophy Central Zone League match was a crucial one and a win would have propelled Rajasthan into the knock-outs. To start with, a Rajasthan victory looked out of bounds as they needed over three hundred runs in last three sessions on a dust bowl. On a spin-friendly wicket, Rajasthan were bundled out for a mere 189 runs in their first innings and a Vidarbha victory was looming large. Vidarbha skipper Praveen Hinganikar declared the second innings at 282-8 setting a target of 329 for the visitors. Rajasthan started the fourth and final day at 26-0. Openers Anil Sinha (28) and Gagan Khoda (66) gave the team a good start adding 66 runs.
Vidarbha’s main strike bowler off-spinner Pritam Gandhe removed top three batters Sinha, Vilas Joshi and Anil Parmar and the visitors were 113-3. Young left-handed all-rounder P Krishna Kumar joined Khoda in the middle. “The idea then was to bat the whole day,” Krishna Kumar said while talking to ‘The Hitavada’ as he recalled the moment of his arrival at the crease. But soon Pritam accounted for dangerman Khoda. Krishna Kumar (106*; 216b, 247 mins, 9x4) and Rahul Kanwat (25) added 51 runs to stabilise the innings. Parimal Hedaoo provided the break and then gave another jolt by netting big fish in Pravin Amre. Pritam completed his five-wicket haul by catching Manish Singh off his own bowling and with the tail exposed, it looked all over for Rajasthan. But Krishna Kumar had other ideas.
He added 58 crucial runs with Mohd Aslam (22) frustrating Vidarbha players. Aslam’s run out and one run later Rajeev Rathore’s dismissal once again swung the match Vidarbha’s way. Rajasthan needed 39 runs and had the last pair on the turf. Krishna Kumar had another left-hander Devendra Pal Singh for company. “I just told him to stay calm and play defensively. He was an aggressive player. But he curbed his natural instinct. We were engaged in a lot of conversation. I had faith in him as he had played well in the first innings. Light was fading fast and the Sun had set for the day. Fielders could not sight the ball. I think Vidarbha had a chance but the umpires ruled out a run out appeal giving us the benefit of doubt. A few catches flew but fell short of fielders,” Krishna Kumar said.
With a three, Krishna Kumar completed his maiden First-Class hundred (he later hit four more in his career) and it was very befitting as he hit those winning runs with just one more over left in the match. “Singh played a different role. Pritam was bowling well but we played him well and finally added 40 runs to take the team home in the penultimate over. It was a very interesting match...nail-biting. Among the best matches I have played against a very good spin attack. Pritam was one of best in the country and to score big in that match and to win was something very important and satisfying,” Krishna Kumar said as if speaking just after the day’s play.
The events are still fresh in his mind after over 25 years. Earlier in the match, Krishna Kumar had come up with a fine show with the ball too. The left-armer had taken eleven wickets in the match and first innings figures of 6-63 remained his best First-Class numbers. “After I had taken first wicket of the match with pace, our Chairman of Selection Committee Kishan Rungta Sir asked me to bowl spin as the wicket was assisting spin. He had seen me bowl spin in nets and knew that I could bowl effectively. “So in that match I bowled pace as well as spin. My next ten wickets in that match came while bowling spin. It was an idea that clicked for us. “Vidarbha had good spinners in Pritam and Ulhas Gandhe and they used to have that type of surfaces (turners). It was turning like anything.
If all the dust on the turf was to be collected it would have made a heap,” said the all-rounder on his combination of pace and spin bowling. For the hosts, it was a case of missed opportunity. “We had taken a healthy first innings lead and were well placed in the match. Rajasthan needed more than 320 runs to win. P Krishna Kumar played a match-winning innings and scored 40 runs for the last wicket. I think the turning point in the match was delay in taking the second new ball. Since the ball was more than 90 overs old, it was coming very slowly off the pitch. It was a turning pitch with Pritam at his best. I think, it was luck that won the match for Rajasthan,” said Hinganikar in an interaction with this scribe from Bangladesh where he is serving Bangladesh Cricket Board as its Chief Curator.
Match: Vidarbha v Rajasthan Ranji Trophy Central Zone League 1994-95
Personal Best: Left-arm seamer P Krishna Kumar, took one wicket bowling pace while ten wickets switching to spin. 6/63 remains his best First-Class figures in an innings.
He also scored his maiden FC ton in this match.
Result: Rajasthan won by one wicket.
Highlights: Krishna Kumar and Devendra Pal Singh added 40 for unfinished tenth wicket stand as Rajasthan entered Super League.
Stats: Dilip Singh Upring
The Hitavada Scoreboard
VIDARBHA 1ST INNINGS: U Phate c M Singh b Krishna Kumar 0, S Iyer c V Joshi b Aslam 88, P Hingnikar c V Joshi b Aslam 29, P Hedaoo b Krishna Kumar 4, Y Ghare c V Joshi b Rathore 65, R Bhalla b Krishna Kumar 1, U Gandhe lbw b Krishna Kumar 21, M Dosi lbw b Krishna Kumar 5, P Gandhe c Sinha b Krishna Kumar 1, S Wankhede Not Out 3, S Talib c Sinha b Aslam 5. Extras: (b 9, lb 2, nb 2) 13. TOTAL: (All out, 83.1 overs) 235. FoW: 1-9, 2-98, 3-110, 4-144, 5-159, 6-210, 7-224, 8-227, 9-227. Bowling: Rathore 11-1-33-1, Krishna Kumar 30-9-63-6, Aslam 22.1-4-66-3, Singh 9-2-31-0, Kanwat 11-1-31-0. RAJASTHAN 1ST INNINGS: A Sinha c Wankhede b Dosi 21, G Khoda b P Gandhe 3, V Joshi c&b Dosi 44, A Parmar c Ghare b P Gandhe 16, P Amre c Ghare b P Gandhe 6, R Kanwat b P Gandhe 12, P Krishna Kumar b U Gandhe 12, M Singh c&b Dosi 5, M Aslam c Bhalla b Dosi 17, R Rathore run out 24, D Singh Not Out 22. Extras: (b 6, lb 1) 7. TOTAL: (All out, 91.3 overs) 189. FoW: 1-13, 2-49, 3-75, 4-81, 5-97, 6-115, 7-116, 8-123, 9-141. Bowling: Hingnikar 5.3-0-28-0, Talib 5-1-13-0, P Gandhe 43-16-70-4, Dosi 22-5-53-4, Hedaoo 9-4-9-0, U Gandhe 7-3-9-1. VIDARBHA 2ND INNINGS: U Phate c sub b Krishna Kumar 84, S Iyer lbw b Rathore 0, P Hingnikar c Parmar b Kanwat 33, P Hedaoo c Manish Singh b Krishna Kumar 69, Y Ghare c Rathore b Krishna Kumar 23, R Bhalla c Kanwat b Aslam 22, U Gandhe c Manish Singh b Krishna Kumar 2, P Gandhe c V Joshi b Krishna Kumar 25, S Wankhede Not Out 3. Extras: (b 12, lb 8, nb 1) 21. TOTAL: (8 wickets decl, 101.4 overs) 282. FoW: 1-3, 2-50, 3-188, 4-200, 5-213, 6-242, 7-257, 8-282. Bowling: Rathore 20-4-45-1, Krishna Kumar 41.4-8-101-5, Aslam 22-3-66-1, Singh 5-0-19-0, Kanwat 10-4-21-1, Khoda 3-0-10-0. RAJASTHAN 2ND INNINGS (Target: 329 runs): A Sinha c Ghare b P Gandhe 28, G Khoda lbw b P Gandhe 66, V Joshi b P Gandhe 15, A Parmar lbw b P Gandhe 4, P Krishna Kumar Not Out 106, R Kanwat lbw b Hedaoo 25, P Amre c Iyer b Hedaoo 19, M Singh c&b P Gandhe 8, M Aslam run out 22, R Rathore c Ghare b Dosi 1, D Singh Not Out 20. Extras: (b 6, lb 10) 16. TOTAL: (9 wickets, 114 overs) 330. FoW: 1-66, 2-103, 3-113, 4-136, 5-187, 6-218, 7-231, 8-289, 9-290. Bowling: Hingnikar 2-1-5-0, Talib 2-0-11-0, P Gandhe 52-6-143-5, Dosi 26-4-64-1, Hedaoo 19-2-57-2, U Gandhe 13-2-34-0.
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