Mumbai U-23 thrashed by Vidarbha inside two days in CK Nayudu Trophy semi-final; VCA vice-prez Vaidya says players trained in wee hours of the day
Vidarbha U-23 players are ecstatic after their CK Nayudu semi-final win over Mumbai at Wankhede yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
For ex-India pacer and current Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) vice-president Prashant Vaidya, chairman of VCA's senior and U-23 selection committee Suhas Phadkar and selection committee member Jayanti Rathod, it was a tremendously worthwhile visit to Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
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The trio watched with glee as the Vidarbha U-23 team did the incredible by beating their Mumbai counterparts by an innings and 64 runs well inside two days in the semi-final of the CK Nayudu Trophy on Tuesday.
Mumbai's abysmal second innings performance was repeat of their first innings as the hosts were bundled out for a meagre 114 in 35.3 overs. Mumbai were bowled out for 94 in the first innings. Vidarbha rode on the well-organised bowling efforts of pacers Aditya Thakare (5-34) and Nachiket Bhute (2-30) as well as left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3-17) as the Mumbai batsmen didn't display any intention to stay at the crease.
Mumbai tumble
Replying to Vidarbha's 272, Mumbai lost their top three batters—Aman Khan (4), Suved Parkar (4) and skipper Hardik Tamore (0)—with just 12 runs on the board by the sixth over. The hosts were soon 25 for five with Shams Mulnai (4) and Agni Chopra (13) back in the dressing room. Though Chinmay Sutar and Sarfaraz Khan scored 27 and 22 respectively, they failed to capitalise on starts. Dubey had Sutar stumped off Siddhesh Wath's flighted delivery and Sarfaraz was trapped leg before wicket with a faster one.
"We hardly bowled any loose balls and it gave us the desired result. I did not expect this [to win in just two days]. I thought it would be a tough game," Thakare, who bagged a match haul of eight wickets, told mid-day.
Skipper Tamore admitted to a lack of application from the Mumbai batsmen and said: "They bowled really well, but we batted badly. I should have stayed longer and performed in this crucial game."
Apart from Vidarbha's disciplined bowling, Wath, who stood like a rock to score 80 even as his team lost six wickets for 111 on Monday, made a big difference.
Lack of application
Vaidya, who played club cricket in Mumbai, remarked: "It's their [Mumbai] home ground and they had a better idea about the wicket. I think the lack of application affected their performance. The first couple of hours are crucial while batting at Wankhede. I learnt this while playing here. I spoke about this to my boys; to put in maximum effort in the first session. But unfortunately, I did not see such efforts from the host batsmen, which surprised me."
Vaidya revealed how his team prepared for tough situations. He said: "During my playing days in Mumbai, I witnessed how Chandu [current Vidarbha coach Chandrakant Pandit] and Sulu [Sulakshan Kulkarni] used to wake up early and travel in local trains to reach Wankhede and go back after practice. I wanted to show my boys that everything is not like a 9 to 5 job; it's a 24x7 thought process. So, on some nights, we used to start indoor nets at 2.30 am. It helped us to teach them that success requires a lot of hardship and they can never be in their comfort zone."
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