Subramaniam, Damle steady DY Patil 'B'

MUMBAI: It was a strange, but happy day for D Subramaniam. The 27-yearold was cursing himself for missing out on a hundred after being dismissed on 90 by the Western Railway Sports Association 'B' bowlers while playing for DY Patil Group 'B' on the opening day of the Times Shield 'A' Division final, when he received a piece of good news.
The opener had been named among the probable for the Mumbai one-day team for the West Zone league competition on Tuesday.
"I am very happy to get this opportunity. I was never selected for Mumbai even in junior cricket. This is purely a result of my performances in the domestic tournaments this season," Subramaniam told TOI.
Interestingly, this cricketer doesn't depend on how he fares with the bat and the ball for his living. A qualified MBA, he is a sports management officer for venue management at the pretty DY Patil Stadium.
More interestingly, Subramaniam had been dropped after his team's first Times Shield game this season and was only recalled for the final, where he emerged a hero! How fortunes change!
Subramaniam was unhappy with the position of his team at stumps though. After choosing to bat, DY Patil 'B' were 278 for six after Day One, with Survesh Damle going strong on 60 (162b, 5x4), and skipper Pravin Tambe giving him company on 17 (2x4).
"We lost too many wickets today . Had we lost around four wickets, it would still have been ideal," Subramanian felt. Though the wicket appears to be flat, he still sees the possibility of a result. "Once we cross 350-plus , we can put them under pressure . There should be an outright result in this (four-day ) game," he said.
Subramaniam held fort at one end as a batting-heavy DY Patil 'B' lost wickets at regular intervals. Bravish Shetty, Kaustabh Pawar, who played a key role for Mumbai in the recent Ranji campaign, Nihkil Mandle, Yogesh Pawar (21, 5x4) and Pankaj Jaiswal all got starts but failed to stay on to make a difference.
After Subramaniam perished, it was Damle's solidity that kept up the DY Patil 'B's hopes of putting up a decent score going. "I started in my usual, aggressive way, but had to change my approach once we started losing wickets," Subramaniam said.