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ShareMumbai: Himachal Pradesh opener Bhavin Thakkar displayed Mumbai's famed khadoos style of cricket with a gritty 88 to help his side gain the first innings lead over the defending champions in a Ranji Trophy Super League Group A encounter at the MCA ground in BKC on Tuesday.
Thakkar, who played for Mumbai before migrating, was batting on 48 overnight and played cautiously to ensure his team took the first innings lead.
He also made sure that the medium pacers didn't get the better of him early in the day.
However, the match remains open as Mumbai finished Day Two at 76 for no loss with Ajinkya Rahane (38) and Sahil Kukreja (35) at the wicket. Mumbai are trailing by eight runs and will now look to bat the whole of Day Three and set Himachal Pradesh a challenging target for an outright win. The wicket was slow and subscribed to spin and the Mumbai openers played cautiously.
Thakkar put on a crucial 53-run partnership with overnight batsman Vinit Indulkar. Indulkar was sent packing by seamer Dhawal Kulkarni. Thakkar prevailed in the battle against his former team. He drove well off the front and back foot to find the boundary.
Indulkar could just add 17 to his overnight score before edging to wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant.
Mumbai's spin attack lacked experience in the absence of Ramesh Powar. Skipper Wasim Jaffer entrusted responsibility on young lieutenants Iqbal Abdulla and Harmeet Singh -- both left-arm spinners -- and the move paid off. Iqbal, who was hit by Thakkar to the mid-wicket boundary, disturbed the in-form batsman's timber in 86th over. Thakkar went for a sweep but couldn't connect. Thakkar's 88 came off 266 balls and his innings lasted more than five hours.
"My aim was to ensure that we took the first innings lead. A century against Mumbai would have been great. I enjoyed playing against my former teammates," Thakkar said after the day's play.
Once Thakkar was dismissed, the other batsmen lost their wickets in search of quick runs.
Sarandeep no-balled
Former India off-spinner Sarandeep Singh,playing for Himachal Pradesh, was called for chucking in the ongoing Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Mumbai on Tuesday. Sarandeep, who has played three Tests and five one-day internationals for India, was called for chucking by square-leg umpire Sanjeev Rao in the 24th over of Mumbai's second innings. Once he was no-balled, captain Ashok Thakur replaced him with part-timer Bhavin Thakkar.
"It was demoralising for Sarandeep. Last season he was under scrutiny and had also gone to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for corrective measures.His action was within the 15 degree limit," Himachal Pradesh captain Thakur told reporters later.
Scorecard
Mumbai 1st innings: 162
Himachal Pradesh 1st innings (overnight 100 for 3): B Thakkar b Abdulla 88, V Indulkar c Samant b Kulkarni 27, M Sharma run out (Sharma/Abdulla) 9, A Mannu c Kulkarni b Abdulla 14, S Singh c Agarkar b Abdulla 25, V Malik st Samant b Harmeet 4, A Thakur st Samant b Harmeet 26, J Mehta not out 4; Extras: (B9, LB1, W1, NB8) 19
Total: (all out; 93.1 overs;
369 mins) 246
Fall of wickets: 4-133, 5-160, 6-185,
7-186, 8-191, 9-234
Bowling: A Agarkar 11-5-23-0, D Kulkarni 13-3-27-1, A Nayar 8-0-21-0 (8NB), A Salvi 12-3-27-0, H Singh 28-9-89-4 (W1), I Abdulla 20.1-5-48-4,
R Sharma 1-0 1-0
Mumbai 2nd innings: A Rahane batting 38, S Kukreja batting 35; Extras: (NB3) 3; Total: (for no loss; 31 overs) 76
Bowling: V Malik 9-2-24-0 (NB2), A Thakur 2-0-6-0, M Sharma 8-1-20-0, J Mehta 5-0-10-0, S Singh 3-0-6-0 (NB1), B Thakkar 3-0-8-0, A Bali 1-0-2-0
