Finally, a lotus in the mud

Delhi, after years of isolation for non-cricketing reasons, manage to come good and lift the title

MUMBAI: On Friday at the tea interval, Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir issued a clarion call of sorts to his teammates. Delhi had conceded a first innings lead of 52 runs and Uttar Pradesh were 123 for three and Suresh Raina and Mohammad Kaif had put on 60 runs without much ado.

The last time Delhi won a Ranji title was 16 years ago and Gambhir didn’t want to let this chance pass. “You don’t win silver,” he said. “You lose gold.” Soon Kaif and Raina were dismissed and Uttar Pradesh fell to 154 for 6.

On Saturday, left-arm seamer Pardeep Sangwan responded with three wickets for five runs to restrict the target to 230. The seasoned Gambhir then himself led from the front with an unbeaten 130 off 154 balls. He put on 91 for the first wicket with Aakash Chopra and then stitched another 139 run stand with Shikhar Dhawan to take Delhi home.

Since their last title, the politics of cricket rather than the game itselfhas made news often. Stories of officials and their hangers-on dictating the terms, and conditions on which the game will be played at the Delhi and District Cricket Association,
dominated.

At last count, 40-odd office-bearers made the trip to Mumbai to watch Delhi play Uttar Pradesh. It was a junket of sorts, akin to the BCCI sending officials of state associations to watch India play Australia Down Under.

But for a change the excesses of the administrators wouldn’t make the headlines, thanks to Gambhir’s efforts at the top.

Mohammad Kaif admitted that his side should have batted better in the second innings, but admitted that the experienced Delhi batters made the difference, especially in crunch situations in both the innings.

Kaif’s over-reliance on swing bowler Praveen Kumar, even as the other young medium-pacers failed to cope with the big game pressure, didn’t help matters.

Coach Vijay Dahiya summed up the team’s motto. “Over the past two years there has been lot of talk of too many experienced players in the Delhi squad. But when you pick a team of 15, you can’t pick only those who are tipped to play for India in the future but also have to have those who will play for Delhi as well.”

Gautam Gambhir added: “We have seen the lows over the years, so it was important to peak at the right time. We never know what will happen the next season. So this is a dream come true. When you finish playing the game and look back at your career these are the moments that you will cherish. This title is what people will associate Delhi cricket with for a long time.”

Scoreboard
Uttar Pradesh (1st innings): 342
Delhi (1st innings): 290
Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings) (overnight 154-6): RP Srivastava c Bisht b Bhatia 18, T Srivastava run out 1, S Raina c Bisht b Sangwan 85, Md Kaif c Bisht b Sangwan 21, Ravikant Shukla c Jain b Bhandari 0, P Chawla c Dhawan b Narwal 4, Bhuvanesh Kumar b Sangwan 19, Amir Khan c Bisht b Sangwan 12, P Kumar b Sangwan 1, P Gupta c Bhatia b Bhandari 13, S Tyagi not out 0. Extras (lb 1, nb 2) 3. Total (all out, in 63.2 overs) 177.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-63, 3-123, 4-126, 5-130, 6-130, 7-154, 8-160, 9-169.
Bowling: Sangwan 20-6-46-5, Narwal 16-6-65-1, Bhandari 11.2-2-28-2, Bhatia 9-3-14-1, Nanda 7-1-23-0.
Delhi (2nd innings): A Chopra c Kaif b Gupta 33, G Gambhir not out 130, S Dhawan not out 54. Extras (b 5, lb 3, nb 2, wb 3) 13. Total (for one wkt, in 55.1 overs) 230.
Fall of wicket: 1-91. Bowling: Praveen Kumar 18-4-48-0, Tyagi 12.1-2-59-0, Bhuvanesh 3-1-8-0, Gupta 14-0-77-1, Chawla 8-0-30-0.