New raj in Indian cricket

Rajasthan created history on Saturday. The Plate League team, which finished at the bottom of their group last year, turned the tables around this season.

Led by Hrishikesh Kanitkar, they went on to conquer a few giants of domestic circuit to lift their maiden Ranji Trophy title.

On Saturday, they won the final by virtue of their first innings lead against Baroda.  Rajasthan started the last day with well-set RR Parida and Ashok Menaria.

The two were close to their respective centuries. Menaria (101 off 149b; 13x4, 3x6) soon reached the three-figure mark but Parida ((89 off 229b; 10x4, 1x6) missed it because of an umpiring error.

Before Parida, was adjudged lbw, Menaria gave a return catch to Aditya Waghmode.

Two quick wickets raised Baroda’s hopes but the Rajasthan tail wagged to deny Baroda any chance of revival. Vivek Yadav (13) and Deepak Chahar (11) consumed too many balls to frustrate the hosts before the last wicket pair of Pankaj Singh (24, 95 balls) and Rohit Jhalani (43, 80 balls) took the match away from Baroda by putting on 59 in 16 overs.

The match was virtually over as far as Baroda were concerned. It was evident from the drooping shoulders of the home team players.

In their second essay, Baroda were troubled by Pankaj (1/13) and Chahar (3/15). They lost Kolsawala, Kedar Devdhar, Swapnil Singh and Aditya Waghmode before the captains agreed to call of the match. For the record, Baroda were 28 for four.

“We’re a little disappointed but we had a great season. This is like an investment. I hope all these youngsters will learn from their mistakes and will form a formidable outfit in couple of years,” said Baroda captain Pinal Shah.

Rajasthan’s new-ball bowlers Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar have picked up more than 80 wickets this season. “This is a good healthy competition we are enjoying. This helps us in many ways. If one of us takes break in bowling, the opposition can’t tend to relax,” said Pankaj, who is the team’s leading wicket-taker.

On the other hand, Chahar (37 wickets) has been a phenomenon this time. His 8/10 on debut, in the opening match of the season against Hyderabad, impressed everyone.

“It is lot to do with Pankajbhai bowling at the other end. Also he stands at mid-off when I bowl. It has helped me a lot,” said Chahar, who failed to impress Greg Chappell when the Australian great was in charge of Rajasthan cricket a couple of years ago.

Today, the youngster is happy and feels it’s a blessing in disguise. “I was told that my fitness was not up to the mark and was neglected in the camp. It is a blessing in disguise as I worked hard to earn a spot in the team. Most of the bowlers selected by Chappell are nursing injuries,” said the speedster.

Scorecard
Rajasthan 1st innings: 394
Baroda 1st innings: 361
Rajasthan 2nd innings (O/N 201/4): R Parida lbw b Bhatt 89, A Menaria c & b Waghmode 101, M Khatri b Vahora 18, V Yadav c Devdhar b Vahora 13, D Chahar c Devdhar b Singh 11, P Singh b Karambelkar 24, R Jhalani not out 43; Extras: (B11, LB1, W2) 14
Total: (all out; 129.1 overs) 341 (2.64 runs per over)
Fall of Wickets: 5-226 (Menaria, 77.2 ov), 6-232 (Parida, 82.3 ov), 7-258 (Khatri, 91.4 ov), 8-265 (Vivek Yadav, 97.5 ov), 9-282 (Chahar, 103.4 ov)
Bowling: M Vahora 28-5-94-4 (W1), S Vohra 14-4-35-1 (W1), B Bhatt 45-8-117-2, S Singh 19-10-33-1, A Waghmode 18-7-34-1, K Devdhar 1-0-2-0, A Karambelkar 2.1-0-9-1, A Rayudu 2-0-5-0
Baroda 2nd innings: J Kolsawala c Jhalani b Singh 13, K Devdhar c Saxena b Chahar 5, A Waghmode c & b Chahar 4, S Singh c Chopra b Chahar 2, A Karambelkar not out 2, A Rayudu not out 2; Extras: 0
Total (4 wickets; 14 overs) 28
Fall of Wickets: 1-14 (Devdhar, 3.6 ov), 2-18 (Kolsawala, 4.2 ov), 3-21 (Swapnil Singh, 5.6 ov), 4-24 (Waghmode, 11.2 ov)
Bowling: P Singh 7-2-13-1, D Chahar 7-2-15-3