A day after Shardul Thakur asserted that if a player has “quality” he should be considered for selection, the all-rounder reminded the national selectors once again that he battled cramps and made the most of his reprieve to end up Mumbai rescued from difficulty. A century of victory over Jammu and Kashmir.
Leading by 86 runs in the first innings, a star-studded but misfired Mumbai team saw Shardul (113 runs, 119b, 17×4) join the veteran Tanush Kotian (58 runs, 119b) , 6×4), the partnership was in trouble at 101 for 7 in the eighth over. and ensured that his team ended the day with 274 for 7, a comfortable lead of 188.
Shardul took some time to settle, relying on singles when seamers Omar Nazir and Yudvir Singh were on fire, then hit a series of boundaries after the water eased.
Similar to their efforts in the first post, Shardul and Kotian supported each other in their 173-over stand. As temperatures soared, Shardul required regular medical attention due to cramps, but that did not deter him as he kept out the J&K bowlers.
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However, things turned into chaos for Mumbai earlier in the day as they conceded 7 wickets for 47 after Mohit Avasthi’s 5 points restricted J&K to 206. pillar gate.
While India captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a good start, scoring 54 runs together, Rohit’s performance of 28 was a mixed bag. He took advantage of a tough catch from Nazir early on, hitting some boundaries and hitting a signature pull for six, but Mushtaq singled out Nazir at mid-wicket The catch shortened his innings.
Things went from bad to worse in Mumbai thereafter.
With Hardik Tamore, Jaiswal and Rohit falling, Shreyas Iyer and captain Ajinkya Rahane tried to rebuild. Shrias was lucky to survive one of Nazir’s appeals. Referee S. Ravi seemed to miss the clear sound from the edge. However, he was unable to capitalize on this and fell behind again shortly after the initial reprieve.
Rahane was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan but the umpire called the captain back as the latter bowled a no-ball. However, Rahane’s innings was short-lived as he was dismissed after two overs, caught brilliantly by Paras Dogra at cover by Nazir.
At the time, defeat was imminent for Mumbai before Shardul and Kotian formed a game-saving partnership.
