CHENNAI: Pradosh Ranjan Paul’s magnificent effort of 169 and Vijay Shankar’s timely century (103) came in handy for Tamil Nadu to force a draw upon hosts Mumbai on the final day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match played at Brabourne Stadium, on Friday. Thanks to the effort of the duo, Tamil Nadu posted 548 in their second essay. Set a target of 212 runs for a win in a possible 32 overs, Mumbai managed 137 for 3 in 24.2 overs after which the two captains agreed for a draw.
Pradosh and Vijay raised 221 runs for the fifth wicket that upset all the plans of Mumbai. Starting the day at 380 for 4, the duo was in no hurry to score runs and played sensibly as per the need of the hour. Tamil Nadu’s situation at that time was not only to score runs steadily and have wickets in the hand but importantly consume time. This was to ensure that Mumbai did not have enough time in their chase and that’s what happened.
‘’Very pleased with the effort. It was really hard work in the middle. We had to play as long as possible without losing a wicket at the same time increasing the lead. It was not that easy, but my experience came in handy,’’ said Vijay.Vijay in fact guided Pradosh in the long partnership and there was excellent understanding and running between the wickets.
‘’We decided to play as long as possible without looking at the scoreboard. We wanted to take it session by session. Pradosh too wonderfully rose to the challenge. Glad our effort served the team’s cause,’’ said an emotional Vijay.
After the fall of Pradosh and Vijay, one expected Shahrukh Khan and Sai Kishore the last recognised pair to add some runs and also spend time in the middle, but they failed.Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal took the challenge and made a quick-fire unbeaten half-century but the hosts fell 74 runs short of securing an outright win.
Mumbai started on a positive note with Prithvi Shaw and Jaiswal showing intent to go for a win. Though Shaw departed early caught by N Jagadeeshan off L Vignesh, Jaiswal continued to score at a brisk pace.
But once Mumbai lost Armaan Jaffer and skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the space of five overs, their chances of a win evaporated. Both Armaan and Rahane fell to the guile of Sai Kishore.
“Sai Kishore bowled brilliantly and intelligently in that situation. We always knew that Mumbai will be under pressure and a couple of wickets could tilt the scale in our favour. We never even once feared we will lose the game. Chasing in the fourth innings in fading light is not that easy,’’ said Vijay.