Mumbai’s sweet revenge

The victorious Mumbai U-25 team, who clinched the CK Nayudu Trophy, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad yesterday

Mumbai U-25 conquered defending champions Vidarbha by 75 runs to clinch the CK Nayudu Trophy in Ahmedabad on Wednesday for sweet revenge. The Mumbai colts had lost to them twice in their two previous encounters.

Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (32 wickets in three games) and middle-order batsman Suved Parkar (601 runs from six games) were the architects of Mumbai's triumph. It was a tough Wednesday for Mumbai, though, as Vidarbha's left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (7-55) ran through the Mumbai side, who were dismissed for just 113 in their second innings.

Vidarbha bowled out for 121

Later, Vidarbha, chasing 196 in 42 overs, were bowled out for 121 with Mulani claiming 7-50. Yash Kadam (49) was the lone fighter for Vidarbha as they folded up in 29.2 overs. "We told ourselves that if our batting line-up can be bundled so quickly, so can theirs. The main thing was to believe in ourselves and not give up," Mulani told mid-day.

Indeed, this was a special triumph. "I was a member of the Mumbai U-23 team when we lost to Vidarbha in the quarter-final at Nagpur in 2019, as well as in the U-23 semi-final at Wankhede Stadium in January 2020, so it is redemption time. We lost both games badly and wanted to prove a point."

Thank you, coach!

Winning captain Hardik Tamore was leading the team in 2020 as well. He was determined to hit back and was delighted by the revenge triumph. Tamore revealed how coach Rajesh Pawar's pep talk on Tuesday evening helped the boys get the desired results. "The coach's timely guidance played a huge role. Yesterday [Tuesday], he stressed the match is not over. He gave us the example of the Delhi team, who kicked off early celebrations on the penultimate day of the 1996-97 day-night Ranji Trophy final against Mumbai in Gwalior and how they lost the game on the final day.

Bowlers turn things around

On the last day, Delhi needed around 250 to chase Mumbai's first innings score of 630 with eight wickets in hand, but the Mumbai bowlers did the trick and won the final as Delhi were bowled out for 559. That story charged us up to keep our focus till we got the final wicket," Tamore explained.

Pawar, 42, a former Mumbai left-arm spinner, who claimed 281 first-class wickets in 84 games, remarked: "It was a close match. They [Vidarbha] bowled well in the second innings and we made some mistakes. But the bowlers made a solid comeback.

"This triumph is a perfect example of teamwork, but Suved and Shams came up with extraordinary performances. In the league stage we played with five U-19 players. They too contributed to this success. Yes, we can say Mumbai has a good future."

U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy: Mumbai enter final

Mumbai entered the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy final after beating Maharashtra by virtue of a first innings lead in Kolkata on Wednesday. Maharashtra scored 324 in response to Mumbai's 472. Mumbai's Aayush Zimare and Suryansh Shedge scored 64 not out and 59 respectively in the second innings to end up with 179-3.
- SM