There were quite a few notable performances as Mumbai triumphed in the Ranji Trophy last season. But the two men who remained consistent through the 11 games were all-rounder Abhishek Nayar and wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare.
While Nayar hit a whopping 966 runs at an average of 96.6 and took 19 wickets, Tare was not very far behind on the run-scoring chart, amassing 842 at 49.5. He took 39 catches and a couple of stumpings. And while Nayar is still finding his groove this time round, Tare is already beginning to impose himself.
Aditya Tare celebrates his century yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble.
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The 26-year-old hit his second ton of the season: an unbeaten 110 against Vidarbha in the second innings at the Wankhede yesterday which helped Mumbai seize control of the match. He had hit 53 and 122 in the previous game against Delhi at the Bandra Kurla Complex ground a few days ago.u00a0Tare walked in to bat with Mumbai enjoying a considerable 148-run lead and looked aggressive from the very first over. He survived a strong caught behind appeal off the first ball, but bounced back strongly, hitting medium pacer Sandeep Singh for a couple of boundaries in that very over.
He continued to play aggressively and relished batting in the company of the South Africa-bound Ajinkya Rahane as the duo put on an unbeaten 133 for the second wicket.
What Tare has also done with his exceptional batting is keep other wicketkeeper-batsmen like Sushant Marathe and Sufiyan Sheikh waiting in the wings. “I would not like to speculate on who he has kept outside the team. It’s about Aditya’s performance and his performance alone,” Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni told MiD DAY at close of play. “He has been batting brilliantly and that’s the way to look at it,” he added.
Kulkarni noted that Tare is growing as a batsman. “I admit that he can improve as a ’keeper, but his batting is top class as of now. And that has got a lot to do with the runs he scored in the last season. I am glad he has learnt from that experience.”
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