MUMBAI: Mumbai may have won the Ranji Trophy 42 times, but Jammu & Kashmir can claim some serious bragging rights by saying that they have beaten the domestic giants in both their meetings in the Ranji Trophy, held in the space of a decade!
Karnataka, who are the big boys of domestic cricket, are the only other team who have managed to have scored two consecutive outright wins over Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy-in the 2014-15 & 2017-18 season. Talk about J&K being the true giant-killers!
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On Saturday, J&K knocked off the remaining three Mumbai wickets for the addition of just 16 runs. Resuming at 274 for seven, the hosts lost their overnight centurion Shardul Thakur (119, 135b, 18×4) when he was caught at cover off seamer Auqib Nabi. Pacer Yudhvir Singh then castled Tanush Kotian (62, 136b, 6×4) with a superb inswinger, while last man Mohit Avasthi (4) was run out.
Chasing 205, J&K were coasting at 112 for one, before they suffered a few anxious moments as their batters kept losing their wickets while trying to smash left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (four for 54) out of the ground. However, opener Shubham Khajuria (45, 89b, 5×4), Yawer Hussain (24) Vivrant Sharma (38, 69b, 5×4), Abid Mushtaq (38, 69b, 5×4) and Kanhaiya Wadhawan (19 not out) all made vital contributions to see their team home at the stroke of tea. Mushtaq, who sealed J&K’s famous win by sweeping Tanish Kotian for a six, added 48 in just 43 balls for the sixth wicket with Wadhawan.
While J&K’s four-wicket win over Mumbai in the 2014-15 season at the Wankhede Stadium was historic, their five-wicket triumph at the Sharad Pawar Academy in BKC had a special taste to it as Mumbai, unlike the last time, were star-studded and the defending Ranji champions on this occasion.
Considering the names on the Mumbai team sheet for this match, any opposition would’ve been intimidated. There was Rohit Sharma, Yashasavi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer and allrounders Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube. Leading Mumbai was 85-Test veteran Ajinkya Rahane. And the man who walked away with the Player of the Match award was J&K’s impressive seamer Yudhvir Singh, who took seven for 95 in 23.2 overs (4-31 in 8.2 overs & 3-64 in 15 overs), troubling Mumbai’s star-studded batsmen throughout the match.
After downing Mumbai, the unfancied J&K have rocketed to the top of the table in Group A, and, with 29 points in six matches, need to just log one point in their final outing against Baroda to secure a knockout berth.
On the other hand, the stunning defeat has seriously jeopardized Mumbai’s chances of advancing to the knockouts. If Baroda (27 from five games), who are currently playing Maharashtra, gain a first-innings lead against J&K in their last game, Mumbai (22 from six games and presently placed third in Elite Group A) would be knocked out of the group league phase even if they win with bonus points against Meghalaya at BKC.
The last league matches will be played from Jan 30, with Mumbai’s KO hopes hanging by a thread. “There’s still a one per cent chance for us to qualify. So, you never know. Our main thing is to learn from this game,” said Rahane.
With scores of 3 & 28, Rohit couldn’t achieve much out of this outing. It didn’t help Mumbai that they had to drop talented in-form young opener Ayush Mhatre (408 runs opener in five matches, with two centuries in his debut Ranji season) to accommodate the 37-year-old and Jaiswal (4 & 26) for this match.
Rahane showers praise on J&K seamers
Rahane, meanwhile, was whole-hearted in his praise for J&K, especially their bowlers.
“Firstly, let’s give credit to Jammu and Kashmir. I thought they played this game really well. They bowled consistently in the right areas and challenged our batting line-up, especially in both the innings, so credit to them. As I mentioned before the game, we are not going to take any team lightly and we didn’t take anyone lightly. I think we were not up to the mark as a team, as a unit. They challenged us and played really well, so they deserved to win,” Rahane complimented.
The Mumbai captain was especially impressed by J&K pacers Auqib Nabi (2-36 & 4-80), Umar Nazir (4-41 & 2-79) and Yudhvir, who took 19 wickets between them to demolish Mumbai’s batting line-up for 120 in the first innings, and restrict them to 290 in the second dig. Rahane admitted, though, that Mumbai didn’t expect the wicket to help the pacers to this extent, especially on Day One, when Mumbai were shot out for just 120.
“There’s quite a bit of talent in their line-up, especially in fast bowling. I think this season they’ve been doing really well. We saw their fast bowlers’ videos. They read the conditions really well. Frankly, we didn’t expect that ball to seam around that much. We thought it would be a good wicket to bat and it will spin on day two but obviously they bowled really well,” Rahane explained.