Ranji Trophy 2015: In shadow of Test, stars aim to shine
ON Friday for Suresh Raina, there was an interview request waiting at every step, quite literally. The left-hander had just finished packing up his kit-bag, and commenced his ascent towards the visiting team dressing-room at the Wankhede Stadium. But there were impediments right along the way. For with each stair that Raina climbed lugging his heavy gear, he was stopped by a reporter seeking his attention with the same ambition — a one-on-one interaction with the now seasoned India ODI player.
To his credit, he never made a face. Nor did he cringe with any semblance of annoyance. He indulged every one of his attention-seekers with the same sincerity, promising interviews at the end of the match, his first for Uttar Pradesh (UP) this season in the Ranji Trophy.
Raina’s last visit to the Wankhede Stadium, two weeks ago, had ended in embarrassment. Kagiso Rabada had knocked his leg-pole out with a ball that snuck in from behind him even as the left-hander stood almost obliviously outside off-stump, probably awaiting that dreaded short-ball that never ceases to follow him. But here he was, the man in demand. This despite the fact that Raina wasn’t the only high-profile name going through his routines on Friday. There were Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, both of whom were part of the Indian Test squad that Raina has stopped featuring in these days, who had returned to their respective domestic teams with the BCCI deciding to release them from national duty. Not to forget young Sarfaraz Khan, back in his original home-town, but in UP colours.
Practice sessions on the eve of a Ranji match are rather staid with two teams going through their routines, generating little interest. But this was a day of starry reunions. But that’s the danger when stars come back from the Indian team to Ranji Trophy though. Occasionally, it can take the focus away from the hard and arduous grind of the Ranji campaign, and take us on a starry digression which isn’t always healthy. Consider UP, they have just won their first outright win of the season under Praveen Kumar who now has to make way for the new captain Raina. The players might not have any problem in re-adjusting to the new style of captaincy but it can have a dampening effect in general. Luckily, Mumbai haven’t gone that way. Rohit has come in and he has the pedigree of winning two IPL trophies too, but they have stuck with Aditya Tare, the young man entrusted with the rebuilding task at the start of the season.
Rohit will only add to the lustre of a team that has been on a roll of late, after yet another untoward start to the season. What he will also bring is panache and attitude to an outfit that isn’t completely bereft of it already. In Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai have possibly the two most exciting young batting talents. While Iyer has pretty much made an impression with each outing to the middle this season — 496 runs at 82.66 with two three-figure scores of 200 and 173 — Yadav, who has adopted the role of the mainstay with great tenacity after years of being the maverick without a cause which also saw him lose his captaincy, finally managed to convert his many starts to a sizable score in the second innings against Baroda in Mumbai’s last match.
This will also be a great opportunity for Rohit to make the UP bowlers pay for having lost his place in the Test XI to Cheteshwar Pujara. It won’t be easy though. UP arguably have one of the strongest bowling attacks in Group B, with Praveen in great wicket-taking form. While their individual battle will be one of the most fascinating aspects of the match itself, Rohit and Praveen spent the eve of the contest seated next to each other in the balcony, competing in a laughathon contest to see who can get the other to guffaw.
At Wankhede, Praveen will also reunite with his long-standing sparring partner in Bhuvneshwar. And the Kumars look poised to expose the only real obvious crack in the Mumbai batting line-up, which lies at the top.
While Raina, Rohit and Praveen were grabbing eyeballs, Bhuvneshwar remained rather inconspicuous, preferring to wheel away in the nets away from the glare. He’s lost his place, his swing and the confidence that made him India’s go-to man across all formats till a couple of years ago. And the lanky swing bowler will first have to get rid of the horrific images of the South African batsmen carting him to every nook and corner of the Wankhede, and beyond, two Sundays ago before he sets upon regaining his lost art in what will be his first Ranji match since December 2012.
