Nayar made the ball talk and used his experience to the fullest to give keep Mumbai alive in the game by playing a major part in reducing Gujarat to 291 for six.
Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar doesn't stand out as a pacer with extra-ordinary abilities, but he covers up for his deficiencies with the hard yards that he puts on the field as a seamer.
As he ran in to bowl like work horse over after over, he was cheered and admired by the fans in the stands for the effort he was putting in against Gujarat on Day Two of the Ranji Trophy final at the Holkar Stadium on Wednesday.
He made the ball talk and used his experience to the fullest to give keep Mumbai alive in the game by playing a major part in reducing Gujarat to 291 for six.
He took three crucial wickets that of Gujarat's run-machine and opener Priyan Panchal (6), the in-form Bhargav Merai (45) and skipper Parthiv Patel (90) at different stages of the game, which did not let Gujarat walk away with full honours of the day.
Nayar swung the ball both ways, with pace and variations, and got all three of his scalps playing behind the stumps.
His impressive bowling saw him finish the day with the figures of 27-6-92-3, that allowed captain Aditya Tare to experiment from the other end.
Tare said, "Abhishek Nayar is a phenomenal character. I used to think no one is indispensable, but I dare not say that about him. He is an outstanding character who works for the team. We are proud to have him in the team."
Nayar has played a huge role in helping this season in Mumbai reach its 46th Ranji final not just with the ball, but bat too. Although he may not have taken wickets in big numbers or scored in bulk, his all-round skills have proved quite effective.
He did the star turn in the knock out stages, too. First he took nine wickets and scored a half century, helping Mumbai beat Hyderabad in quarterfinals before taking another four-wicket haul and scoring one more fifty in the semis against Tamil Nadu.
With 22 wickets, and three wickets so far on day two of the final, Nayar has taken his tally to 25.
A similar kind of effort in the next few days from him would not only boost his figures but also Mumbai's chances of winning yet another title.
Tare breaks own record
Mumbai captain and wicket-keeper Aditya Tare broke his own record for most dismissals in a Ranji Trophy season on Wednesday. The previous best was 48, two seasons back, and another three – all caught behinds, saw him get to half century of it.
"I feel proud of breaking the record. But right now my focus is on winning the Ranji Trophy. It is irrelevant for me right now but if it helps the team, that's fine. I knew that I was on the verge of breaking my own record and I was close at 47 this time. Every bowler knows his wickets, every batsman knows his runs and every 'keeper knows his dismissal," said an elated Tare.
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