Shubham Ranjane's unbeaten 76 handed Mumbai three points against Bengal on the final day of their Ranji Trophy
Abhishek Nayar
Shubham Ranjane’s unbeaten 76 handed Mumbai three points against Bengal on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ drawn match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur yesterday.
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Chasing 308, Mumbai lost their top three batsmen with just 22 on the board. The defending champions were struggling at 67-5 after losing Suryakumar Yadav (21) and skipper Aditya Tare (23). However, Ranjane and Abhishek Nayar (51) put on 112 runs for the sixth wicket to save the day for Mumbai. Ranjane hit 11 boundaries during his 290-minute stay at the crease while Nayar’s innings was laced with eight fours.
Pune-born Shubham, the grandson of former India Test medium-pacer Vasant Ranjane and son of Maharashtra Ranji Trophy cricketer Subhash, had to wait for two years to play for Mumbai. The young cricketer shifted base to the Maximum City in 2014 and had to adhere to the cooling off period rule set by Mumbai Cricket Association.
"Yes, I had to double my performance in those two years. But I learnt a lot playing alongside Shreyas Iyer, Abhishek and others during Mumbai’s various tournaments," Ranjane told mid-day over the phone from Nagpur. At tea, Mumbai required 183 runs with five wickets remaining. Ranjane and Nayar were batting on 34 and 26 respectively.
"We just wanted to save the match. The pitch was not easy to bat on. There was no point in going for a chase. They were bowling very well. We preferred to save the match and get three points," he added. Ranjane, playing in only his second first-class match, said Nayar was instrumental in building his confidence.
"I enjoyed batting with him. He guided me and gave me confidence to play my natural game. His words really motivated me to play well. That’s how we built our crucial partnership," the 22-year-old Ranjane said.
Earlier, in the morning session, Bengal added just four runs to its overnight total of 433 for eight. The Manoj Tiwary-led side were bowled out for 437 with pacer Dhawal Kulkarni taking 5 for 110.With just one league match left (against Punjab from December 7 to 10 at Rajkot), Mumbai currently sit comfortable on the top of Group ‘A’ with 29 points.
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