Ranji Trophy: Lad and Surya stand tall as Mumbai end Day 1 on 278-5

NEW DELHI: With most of his players engaged in the Deodhar and Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant's only grouse was that his team did not have sufficient time to train. On Thursday, the first day of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy opener against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium, here, his concerns appeared to be justified.


Senior pro Suryakumar Yadav, who went on to make a 144-ball 83 in Mumbai's total of 278-5 on a day which saw bad light curtail play, was the beneficiary of three reprieves early on in his innings. First, he took a risky single and almost ran himself out at the non-striker's end without even opening his account. He was later dropped by seamer Manish Rao off his own bowling when he was batting on one. He was dropped again at second slip off the bowling of skipper Anureet Singh while on three.


Yadav, who clearly was out of sorts early on, took his time to settle down, but once he found his rhythm, he was a delight to watch. He timed the ball brilliantly, looked compact in defence and was sure in his footwork.

"Actually, I did not have enough time to train with the red ball," he explained. "Deodhar Trophy was a tournament played with the white ball, so making the transition from the white to the red ball took me some time. So yes, it was a bit difficult at the start," he added.

Mumbai won the toss and opted to bat. Openers Jay Bista (47) and

Akhil Herwadkar

(9) got them off to a good start as well. Bista played his strokes at will and looked confident. Herwadkar, on the other hand, played the second fiddle. But just as Mumbai were approaching their 50, Herwadkar edged one to wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat down the leg-side off Anureet. Bista was next to depart. He tried to pull an Anureet delivery over midwicket, but was brilliantly caught by Avinash Yadav. Debutant Ashay Desai stepped out to Avinash Yadav but missed and saw his stumps shattered. Mumbai looked Shaky at 98 for 3.

Yadav then realized the importance of his wicket and changed his approach. He also found an inspiring partner in Siddhesh Lad. Their solid approach deflated Railways' attack which looked extremely threatening in the morning session. Anureet and Manish Rao, in fact, bowled 19 overs between them in the opening spell.

Yadav and Lad batted through the lunch session and went into the tea break with Mumbai well placed at 227-3. They added 127 runs for the fourth wicket.

Apart from Surya's flamboyance, what also caught the attention was Lad walking out to bat with a pollution-protection mask. He batted through the post-lunch session with the mask on. After the tea-break, though it came off. It took nothing away from his game though and despite Surya's dismissal, he carried on. Known as the 'crisis man' of Mumbai, Lad batted through and remained unbeaten on 80 at stumps. Shivam Dube was keeping Lad company on 35.

Dad's the way

Dinesh Lad, who was sitting in the stands, caught the attention of a few on Thursday. It appeared that he had come to see his son Siddhesh bat against Railways. But when he was asked if he travelled all the way to Mumbai to watch Siddhesh bat, he clarified that he was on an official visit. He was present at the Karnail Singh Stadium in the capacity of a Railways observer.