Wasim Jaffer: Runathor

A Ranji Trophy game doesn’t attract crowds like an international tie and an IPL match do. Records are created and broken in India’s premier domestic tourney but that’s seldom spoken-about or acknowledged.

But, on a sleepy Thursday afternoon at the Wankhede, a small smattering of spectators witnessed a monumental feat. It was a day Wasim Jaffer wrote himself into history books. He became the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy when he went past his former teammate Amol Muzumdar’s record of 8237 runs.

Fifty-one is all Jaffer needed to overhaul Muzumdar. He brought it up with a wristy stroke (off Punjab leggie Rahul Sharma) that sped to the mid-wicket fence.

Up against Punjab’s 226, Jaffer came in at the fall of opener Praful Waghela. The Mumbai skipper was elegant as ever. His favourite on-drive was on view as he flicked the Punjab seamers with ease.

He went on to score a chanceless 74th first-class half-century during which he surpassed Muzumdar. Unfortunately, he missed out on a hundred; he was stumped off Sharma (for 82) while trying to go for his shots.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav notched up a typically entertaining 56-ball 64 as Mumbai got a first-innings lead of 82. At close, the hosts were 308 for four, with Ankit Chavan (17) and Ramesh Powar (30) unconquered.

Yadav was at his attacking best. He stepped out and swept the spinners Bipul Sharma and Rahul Sharma at will. He scored his third half-century of the season.

Soon after play, a phalanx of media-men rushed to Jaffer for a byte or two, quite unusual in a Ranji tie. Doesn’t end there; cricket lovers were also posting views on social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook.

Looks like Ranji Trophy still has some following in India and Jaffer’s record will get the recognition it deserves.

Scorecard
Punjab 1st innings 226
Mumbai 1st innings (O/N: 22 for no loss)
K Pawar c Sharma b Baltej Singh 46, P Waghela c Goel b Harmeet Singh 28, W Jaffer st Kaul b Sharma 82, H Shah c Kaul b Sidhu 14, S Yadav lbw b Harmeet Singh 64, A Chavan batting 17, R Powar batting 30
Extras: (B12, LB5, W6, NB4) 27
Total: (5 wickets; 97 overs) 308
Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-115, 3-164, 4-220, 5-257
Bowling: Harmeet Singh 24-8-41-2 (1W), Baltej Singh 24-6-50-1 (1W), N Sidhu 16-4-35-1 (3NB, 1W), R Sharma 19-3-92-1, Bipul Sharma 9-0-53-0 (3W), Amitoze Singh 5-1-20-0 (1NB)