Bracing up for the big battle

 

Our semi-final clash against Haryana ended in xxx innings and two days—preposterous for a match of that stature. Well, the flip side to it was that we were left with a couple of choices to toy with—firstly, the option of taking the 6 hour ride back to Jaipur for a few practice sessions before heading to Chennai, or fly straight, well in advance to acclimatize. We did the latter—thanks to the accommodating Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Last year, Vadodara hadn’t been as convivial—they’d told us to delay our arrival, since the practice pitches hadn’t been readied. Well, our experience in the circuit told us that that was a rather lame excuse to disrupt our preparations, but we couldn’t do much about it. We were happy TNCA accepted our request.

 

Playing in Chennai not only requires modifying the skill set (the track is made of red soil, which has a lot more bounce and assistance for spinners) but also demands you to get used to the heat, especially when you’ve just finished a game in freezing Lahli. Our preparation, though not sure by design or by default, was close to perfect. We were told to practice in the morning the first day and in the afternoon the following day. While playing at 2pm in Chennai can be physically draining, we didn’t complain much because it allowed us to encounter the prevailing conditions before the real event.

Day 1—right foot forward

We were surprised to see that the curator had chosen a strip made of black soil instead of traditional red soil. It didn’t have much grass on top and absolutely no moisture underneath. We realized that toss was going to be the deciding factor, for the team batting first would hold all the aces. Skipper Kanitkar won the most important toss of the season and we went out to bat with the resolve of batting Tamil Nadu out of the game. We started on a positive note with scoring 17 runs of the first over of the innings. If the first over briefly allowed us to entertain the thoughts of dominating the attack on a flat surface, the next few overs ensured that 17 runs in an over was going to be an aberration. It was indeed a slow/low surface, which gave very little liberty to score freely. I got hit on the eye while attempting a hook shot but decided to carry on, for I knew the importance of not giving TN an inch. Vineet, on the other end, batted in the manner best suited to succeed on that surface i.e. playing with a straight bat in the ‘V’. We didn’t lose a single wicket on day 1 and pressure was on TN to make a match of it.

Day 2—slow and steady

I missed my ton by 6 runs but only one more wicket fell in the entire day’s play. Vineet Saxena went on to score his maiden double century and remained unbeaten at the end of second day. Kanitkar contributed with a fine fifty before departing and Robin Bist, the highest run scorer this season, looked in good shape when umpires called the day. Even though we didn’t lose too many wickets on the second day, we moved at a snail’s pace and received a lot of flak for our tactics. It was imperative for us to remind everyone that we hadn’t planned to bat slowly but it was the slowness of the track that forced us to behave in such a manner. I firmly believe that the quality of cricket we produce is directly proportionate to the quality of pitches we prepare. Since it was a sluggish pitch, it produced sluggish cricket. Also, the rules required us to bat for as long as we could, scoring rate be damned. If first innings lead was good enough to win the game then so be it, there was no reason for us to rack our brains and jeopardize our chances of retaining the title.

Day 3—One hand on the Trophy

We barely managed to reach the ground on the morning of day-3—most Chennai roads leading to the stadium had been cordoned off, perhaps as a part of the security routine leading up to the Republic Day. It wasn’t the best way to start the day but it didn’t deter our resolve one bit. Vineet Saxena continued to bat with authority and Robin gave him good support from the other end. We needed to accelerate a bit, for we didn’t want to leave anything to chance. There’s a rule in domestic cricket that if the first innings’ aren’t completed, then the team with a better run-rate is declared the winner. Tactically, we wanted them to chase over 500 runs and also bat over 200 overs. We did what was needed and Tamil Nadu had to bat the tricky last session. Having spent 8 sessions in the field, it was always going to be tough for the openers—both of them departed soon after their arrival. But it was only when we saw the back of Badrinath—the biggest fish in their team, we knew that we had one hand on the trophy.

Day 4—Inching closer

The match math looked like this—Raj needed 7 wickets while Tamil Nadu had to bat 180 overs or score over 550 runs to win the match. Clearly, the dice was heavily loaded in our favor, yet we didn’t want take the foot off the pedal—typical of the little guy in the contest. The relentless pressure and severely deteriorated surface made both survival and run scoring extremely difficult. Dinesh Karthik displayed a lot of resistance but it was never going to be enough, for the body language of their team had given away their resignation. We got a huge first innings lead and with that we had both our hands firmly on the silverware. They had prepared a surface keeping in mind the lack of depth in our spin department but they didn’t take into account the fact that our batting was as good as any batting line-up in the country. They had expected to win the toss, but cricket matches rarely follow a premeditated script. Their plan had backfired.

Day 5 –The Final Frontier

We couldn’t wait to get over with the formalities of playing on the final day and celebrate our victory—till not too long ago, the mere thought of qualifying for the knock-outs had been bizarre. Robin lit up the day for a brief period when he crossed the 1000 runs mark in the Ranji trophy season. It was a proud moment for him, the team and Rajasthan. He was only the first man from Rajasthan to have crossed the 4 figures mark in a Ranji season. Hope better things lie ahead for him. But this wasn’t a day to celebrate personal landmarks and achievements; the day belonged to the entire team. We had achieved what most teams couldn’t i.e. successfully defend the Ranji trophy. Our resilience, our resolve and most importantly, our belief proved what happened last season may have been ‘Out of the Blue’ but it wasn’t a flash in the pan. We, Rajasthan, are here to stay.

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2 Responses

1. shilpa says:

   January 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm

   Excellent chronicles from an insider…..excellent both on cricketing and literary content.

   Congratualtions Aakash and Rajasthan on winning and repeating the win……it is an immense achievement.

   for an outsider following First Clas or for that matter all kinds of cricket…it’s the win of organized planning/ strategizing and will-power+ desire over flashy inidividual brilliance.
   Some of parts stood out greater.

   also many felt that since there are a few test/ international ODI aspirant stars…..nor any great IPL stars either in Rajastahn team…a Ranji title was their single biggest and common desire….unlike their opponents varying interests.

   Aakash and Saxena rose to the occasion with that TN’s morale killing openingstand…..( gavaskar has also applaued that classical stand and old fasioned virtues missing in the Indian debacle).

   I think singh and singh plucking out the top-3 ex-international stars for almost nothing killed the TN resistance. Kaarthik’s was always going to be a vain cause.

   well done and well written.
   regards

   Reply
2. shilpa says:

   February 4, 2012 at 2:44 am

   I must correct myself thouhg when I said Raj has no India-international side potential……..Pankaj Singh is there.
   He should have gotten a breakthrouhg by now and I hope his performances are neing noticed. If he has 5kph of pace as Meryck Pringple believes he can……Pankaj will be a prospect he is only in mid 20s.

   The sucess in winning the title has put some spotlight on Robin Bisht…the 1000+ run scorer for this season and Rituraj who is getting accoladed by Lille also.

   the latter two may with a few more good shows in Duleep trophy, break into the India A sides atleast in the near future

   Reply