Mumbai overcame morning session tremors to post 289-5 at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘D’ fourth round encounter against Himachal Pradesh at the MCA’s BKC ground on Saturday.
The hosts owe it to brilliant centuries from their young and old. Opener Musheer Khan, 20, stamped his class scoring 112 (289m, 162b, 14×4). It was an emotional moment for Musheer when he reached his fourth first-class century as his maternal uncle had passed away on the morning of the match.
Siddhesh Lad, 33, registered his 14th first-class ton as the duo raised 157 for the fifth wicket after Mumbai were 73-4 before lunch. Barring Musheer and Lad (100 not out, 250m, 207b, 14×4, 1×6), Mumbai’s top order had no answers for the HP medium-pacers in the opening session, when bowlers usually get maximum purchase.
Four wickets fell before lunch to the medium-pace trio of Vaibhav Arora (1-34), Vipin Sharma (1-33) and Arpit Guleria (2-56). India Under-19 captain Ayush Mhatre was clean bowled by Vipin in the second over. The 85-Test veteran Ajinkya Rahane was consumed by first-change Guleria, edging to first slip for two.
Himanshu goes for a duck
Lower-order batsman Himanshu Singh was promoted to No. 4, a move that Mumbai had tried in vain against Chhattisgarh. The ploy flopped again as he became Guleria’s second victim, bowled for a golden duck. Then, the Khan brothers, Musheer and Sarfaraz, batted patiently for a bit before Arora trapped Sarfaraz in front for 16.
Musheer and Lad played the ball on merit, with Lad pulling and cutting, and controlling the Mumbai innings, while Musheer was happy to cut the left-arm spinners Dagar and Aryaman Singh. Musheer’s patient knock ended when Dagar castled him.
“BKC has a record of losing two or three wickets in the first session. Our plan was to not think about much till lunch and play out the session. BKC is my favourite ground. I have been playing here since childhood. I make runs here all the time. I know how the pitch behaves. After lunch, the pitch improves and batting becomes easier,” said Musheer.
‘Aim is to not gift wickets’
In saying that this century will do him a world of good in terms of confidence, Musheer spoke of “bonding” and the seniors in the team allowing others to play their natural game. “They [seniors] don’t tell us what to do.
They have given us a free hand, but we have to look at the situation the team is in. The team comes first. The main aim is not to gift our wickets. If the bowler has bowled an unplayable ball and you get out, so be it. But we will not throw away our wickets,” said Musheer.
The frustrated Himachal bowlers adopted a negative line in the latter half, to which Lad and his sixth-wicket partner Akash Anand (26 not out) just padded away. Lad was in no hurry to reach his century, stuck on 88 for 19 deliveries at the fag end of the day. Eventually, he completed his second hundred in four matches this season.
Brief scores
Mumbai 289-5 (M Khan 112, S Lad 100*; A Guleria 2-56) vs Himachal Pradesh