Ranji Trophy: Avasthi, Dube shine in Mumbai's victory over Bihar

Mumbai’s Mohit Avasthi in Patna; Shivam Dube (right)

Mumbai pacer Mohit Avasthi secured his successive fifer (6-27), while Shivam Dube showcased his all-round ability (41 runs and six wickets in the game) against Bihar in their Elite Group ‘B' Ranji Trophy game in Patna on Sunday.

The hosts were struggling at 91-6 on following-on, trailing by 60 at stumps on Day Three at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium.

In reply to Mumbai's 251, the Ashutosh Aman-led team were bowled out for 100, thanks to Avasthi's disciplined bowling, good support from medium pacer Dube (2-13) and left-arm pacer Royston Dias (1-29).

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Raju Kulkarni

The hosts struggled to counter the visitors' bowling in the second innings too when Dube (10-7-7-4) bowled a fiery spell. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani and off-spinner Tanush Kotian took one wicket apiece.

Avasthi, 31, who bagged a fifer (5-89) in his last game against Maharashtra at the Brabourne Stadium last January, was delighted to repeat his feat in the first game of the season.

"Yes, it's certainly good to get back-to-back fifers. The challenging nature of first-class cricket demands that you have to be at your best every moment. So, it's good to achieve successive fifers.

But as a cricketer, you don't think of the milestones while playing; only look to get your process right.

The satisfaction arrives when you are able to execute.

"The first goal from here is to secure an outright win for my team," Avasthi told mid-day on Sunday.

Mumbai chief selector Raju Kulkarni lavished praise on the bowlers for their dominant performance and expects the team to record a big win today. "We have to play [well] to earn seven points," Kulkarni said.

Dube, 30, last played a red-ball cricket in 2019 when he represented India ‘A' against South Africa ‘A'. He scored 68 and claimed Vernon Philander's wicket in Mysore. When Kulkarni was asked about the Mumbai all-rounder, he remarked: "Shivam's main strength is his accuracy. His bowling is not complicated and he bowls stump to stump, which is required on this [Patna] pitch. He bowls quite well. I see his role as coming on to bowl to give some rest to the pace bowlers. At the same time, he has a golden arm, which gives us one or two wickets, crucial breakthroughs."

Brief scores
Mumbai 251 v Bihar 100 (A Raj 32; M Avasthi 6-27, S Dube 2-13) & 91-6 (S Nigrodh 40, B Saurabh 30'; S Dube 4-7)