By Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Kolkata
There was one matter of interest when play resumed on Day 3 of this Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match between Bengal and Gujarat. Gujarat were 107/7 and trailing by 172 runs. The home team securing a first-innings lead was a foregone conclusion. The question was, could Bengal push themselves into a position to win this one outright? At stumps on the penultimate day at Eden Gardens, that possibility looked bleak.
On another day of cricket unattractive and low on intrigue, Bengal took far too long to dislodge the last two Gujarat wickets. After that, they couldn’t bat themselves into a situation where a declaration could be made overnight, having stretched their overall lead to 282 with four wickets in hand. There is a cyclone forecast in the region late on Tuesday and even if a full day of play takes place, there isn’t a lot of time for Bengal to add a few more briskly and then take 10 wickets.
Credit for the rearguard action from Gujarat’s point of view goes to Manan Hingrajia. The captain remained unbeaten on 80 off 252 balls. Having come in at No. 4 a day earlier, he survived a chance on one and hardly gave anything away after that. He was deliberately slow, reaching 50 off 179 balls. The two partnerships he shared after Gujarat slumped to 108/8 in the first over of the day were critical. With Arzan Nagwaswalla, the left-hand bat added 38 off 84 balls. For the last wicket with P Jadeja, he consumed another 51 balls to put together 21 runs. That’s 22.3 overs and had Bengal got those two wickets in about 10, things could have been different.
With all eyes on Mohammed Shami, another India discard of lesser stature was the star for Bengal. After the fast bowlers took the first three wickets, Shahbaz Ahmed claimed the next six to break the back of the Gujarat resistance. Having missed the first match recovering from injury, the left-handed all-rounder failed to contribute with the bat in both innings. But he has this habit of doing something or the other and the ability to force mistakes from batters. The player with five India caps in white-ball cricket kept things tight and struck when they fancied their chances against him to return figures of 19-5-34-6. Shami took the last wicket to finish with 3/44.
Bengal didn’t show the urgency to force the pace in the second innings despite getting a good start. That was their only chance to take six points, although a difficult one. Abhimanyu Easwaran (25) and Sudip Gharami (54) shared an opening stand of 55 in 14.3 overs. After that, Bengal didn’t get another partnership worth more than 40 and lost six wickets. Their run rate in the second innings of 170/6 was just above 3.5. That’s not bad, but not what was needed if they were to push for a win.
Injury substitute used
The BCCI has introduced a rule this season regarding replacement players for those who get injured on the field during the course of play. If the umpires and the match referee deem fit, a team can have a like-for-like substitute player who is not part of the original XI. Bengal opener Sudip Chatterjee hurt his left knee while fielding on Day 2 and went off limping immediately. Kazi Junaid Saifi was granted as a replacement player.
Brief scores: Bengal 279 & 170/6 (Sudip Gharami 54, Anustup Majumdar 44 batting, Siddharth Desai 4/48). Gujarat 167 (Manan Hingrajia 80 not out, Shahbaz Ahmed 6/34. Mohammed Shami 3/44).
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