CRICKET is a great leveller they say. The top four batters of Vidarbha — former skipper Faiz Fazal, his opening partner R Sanjay and the professional duo of Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair have scored 21766 First-Class runs combined having played 320 games of the longest format. Against Services in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A opener under way at VCA’s Civil Lines ground, the same set of batters could manage just 58 between them. To be fair to the batsmen, the pitch, sporting generous green colour, is not that easy to bat on, particularly against the new ball. To add to it, the overcast conditions made life more miserable for them. At end of Day Two of the contest, the hosts were 191-8, 50 runs behind in pursuit of Services’ first innings score of 241.

 

 

India player Umesh Yadav (14*; 21b, 1x6) and veteran Akshay Wakhare (0*; 8b) were holding the fort. In all likelihood, Vidarbha will concede first innings lead but they must not lose heart as they have enough time in hand to bounce back in the game. They must try to minimise the lead on third morning and then come hard on the visiting batters in the second essay. Vidarbha had a bad start. After starting with a wide ball, Varun Choudhary had Faiz caught in the covers on the first legal delivery. Shorey hit two crisp fours before misjudging a ball from the same bowler. He shouldered arm only to see the ball nip back and disturb his woodwork. Karun Nair (24; 59b, 5x4) and Sanjay (25; 82b, 4x4) looked good but Choudhary had the former cleaned up with another inswinger. Four runs later, Poonam Poonia had Sanjay lbw and Vidarbha were 60-4. Like in the Services innings, the fifth wicket Vidarbha pair did the damage control job.

 

Skipper Akshay Wadkar (59; 80b, 5x4) and debutant Shubham Dubey (32; 103b, 2x4, 1x6) hung on till lunch and then continued till tea without being separated. Dubey, known for big hitting and being acquired by IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals for the said ability, curtailed his instincts and batted in a way befitting the longer format. Wadkar was his busy self and raced to his 15th FC fifty in just 59 balls hitting five boundaries. In between, Dubey played a classy cover drive and hit first six of match hoisting offie Pulkit Narang over the bowler’s head. On the next ball after hitting another four, Dubey edged one behind and Lovekesh Bansal dived to his left to collect the ball in his gloves off Choudhary at 148. Four runs later, Wadkar was surprised with a ball that rose from just short of length and he could do nothing except edging it to the keeper. The bowler to benefit was Nitin Yadav. Darshan Nalkande and Aditya Sarvate did not last long. After Umesh Yadav missed a big heave against Arjun Sharma, the partisan crowd cheered “aayega...aayega” and the batter connected one for the maximum, ending the day on a positive note.