After posting 411, Mumbai derailed the Railways, struggling at 115-6, at stumps on Day Two
Shivam Dube
Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube was eager to make his Ranji Trophy debut memorable by scoring a century in the quarter-final against Karnataka at Nagpur last year. However, he fell short then by 29 runs. This time round, the left-hander made it count with an impressive 114 in only his second Ranji game, against Railways in Delhi yesterday.
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After posting 411, Mumbai derailed the Railways, struggling at 115-6, at stumps on Day Two. Siddhesh Lad and Dube resumed the day with Mumbai 278-5, and their respective scores being 80 and 35. Crisis man Lad failed to get to his seventh first-class hundred by a solitary run (99, 14x4s) when he was bowled by left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav. Dube battled on to realise his dream. "After ending up very close to a century against Karnataka [in Nagpur] in my first Ranji match, I was determined to do well this season.
And I'm glad to get my maiden Ranji Trophy hundred in the first match of the season. I prepared very hard for this. A first century is important for any player, but to get it in the first match of the season, is even more special," Dube told mid-day yesterday.
Unlike Thursday, the Delhi smog was not too tough to handle yesterday, but the new ball posed numerous challenges for the Mumbai batsmen in the morning session. Dube went on to forge two vital partnerships — first, of 79 runs with Lad for the sixth wicket, and then a 56-run stand with skipper Dhawal Kulkarni (22) for the seventh wicket.
"Siddhesh was batting really well yesterday [Thursday] and helped me a lot too, but, after they took the new ball in the first over today, things became a bit tough for us. Somehow, we remained patient and went about our runs," said Dube, 25, who hit 13 fours and four sixes. In-form pacer Tushar Deshpande was the most successful Mumbai bowler, claiming 3-29, while pacers Kulkarni and Dube picked up one wicket each.
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