Mumbai feel the shivers

Sachin Tendulkar threw away a promising start as Mumbai struggled to get going against Services on the first day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Wednesday. The visitors ended the day at 199 for six.

The Palam ground wicket was the topic of much speculation even as Mumbai skipper Ajit Agarkar opted to bat first after winning the toss. His decision seemed strange given the typical overcast conditions and the likelihood of the pitch keeping low.

Services’ new-ball bowlers, Suraj Yadav and Nishan Singh, non-entities till date, suddenly became a force to reckon with for openers Wasim Jaffer and Kaustubh Pawar. Pawar fell early, and it was again left to Jaffer to steady the innings. Just as he looked set after smashing three boundaries, Nishan got him caught behind for 15. Jaffer seemed unconvinced about the edge but umpire Subrata Das stood firm. And when Hiken Shah followed him soon for a naught, it all came down to Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar to do the rescue act. He came in as early as the 10th over and looked edgy to begin with. However, he started despatching anything loose outside the off as he gained in confidence.

Tendulkar couldn’t have asked for a better partner during the re-building phase. Abhishek Nayar, who’s had a fantastic season this year, curbed his attacking instincts to stay put with Tendulkar. Mumbai crawled to lunch at 42 for three, with Nayar making just five off 49 deliveries. Post-lunch, the Palam wicket had completely dried up and instances of the ball keeping low became a rarity.
Tendulkar finally decided to open up and in the 30th over, he went after Yadav. The sizeable crowd, which had flocked the ground just to watch the legend bat, were treated to some Tendulkar special as he struck Yadav for two straight drives (on the rise, mind you) and an on-drive. The Master brought up his half-century even as Services skipper Soumya Ranjan Swain persisted with his three frontline pacers. Ranjan finally decided to introduce left-arm spinner Avishek Sinha into the attack. Immediately taking the attack to him, Tendulkar struck the first six of the match with a loft over mid-wicket. But moments later, Sinha became a hero for his teammates as he got Tendulkar for 56, trying to repeat the same shot. The knock came to an abrupt end, courtesy a left-arm spinner, again.

Nayar, meanwhile, persisted with his sedate approach and top-scored with 70 of 160 balls till he was caught in the first slip by Shadab Nazar. Nazar reaped the rewards for some consistent bowling as he bowled Ankeet Chavan for a duck in the same over.
And when Agarkar came out to join Aditya Tare in the middle, Mumbai were reeling at 169 for six. The duo added another 30 runs without any further damage when stumps were called after only 78 overs.