Ranji Trophy: Yash, Shubham tons deflate Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh close in on maiden title

Madhya Pradesh finish Day 3 of Ranji final on 368/3, just six runs shy of Mumbai’s first-innings total.

A feature of Madhya Pradesh’s batting this season has been their resoluteness and determination to make it count. On Friday – the third day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru – Mumbai found themselves at the receiving end of that approach.

Madhya Pradesh batsman Yash Dubey (L) celebrates his century during the third day of the Ranji Trophy final (PTI)

With the surface not offering much help to the bowlers, Mumbai struggled to make inroads into the MP batting line-up. At stumps, MP reached 368/3, just six short of Mumbai’s first-innings total of 374.

The architects of MP’s batting effort were centurions Yash Dubey (133, 336b) and Shubham Sharma (116, 215b), who stitched together a second-wicket partnership of 222 in 440 balls. Rajat Patidar’s 106-ball 67 ensured that the Mumbai bowlers received no respite and took MP closer to taking a first-innings lead.

Madhya Pradesh’s ruthlessness with the bat was reminiscent of what Mumbai have done to numerous opponents over the years. The approach had the imprint of MP coach Chandrakant Pandit all over it. Pandit, a product of the Mumbai system, seems to have instilled Mumbai’s ‘khadoos’ mentality in the MP batters.

Dubey resumed from where he had left on Day 2 — staying composed, playing close to the body and making sure he didn’t get distracted by Mumbai’s banter.

At one point, Sarfaraz Khan egged him on to go after the spinners and Dubey obliged. He danced down the pitch and whipped Tanush Kotian through midwicket for a boundary—it was his way of stating that he can play big shots if he wants to. That shot took him to 88, but he hit just three more fours—one of which took him to his century—after that, mostly focusing on frustrating the bowlers.

Sharma, on the contrary, was looking to score at every opportunity. In his eagerness to dominate the bowling, he slashed at a wide one from Tushar Deshpande that burst through Armaan Jaffer’s hands at short point.

The tide would have changed had Jaffer held onto that catch but it wasn’t to be. It was the only clear-cut opportunity that the MP batters presented all day long. There were numerous leg-before appeals turned down by the umpires and a few close run-out calls but nothing significant to infuse hope into the Mumbai camp.

Sharma, who was on 55 at that point, tightened his game after the reprieve at the end of the 47th over. He mostly dealt in singles thereafter.

Dubey’s ton was his second of the season while Sharma brought up his fourth century of the season.

Eventually, Sharma’s stay at the crease ended when he chased a wide one off Mohit Avasthi in the 90th over and edged the ball to wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore.

Mumbai had finally got the breakthrough they were looking for, but any hopes of them running through the MP batting were quickly dashed by Patidar. He played an attacking innings to ensure that the pressure was firmly on Mumbai.

The 29-year-old was fortunate, though, that Shams Mulani had overstepped when he hit a wide delivery to Kotian at point. Having scored 52 runs from as many balls till that point, he then focused on taking MP to the close of play without much damage.

Mulani toiled hard throughout the day and had some reward when he managed to turn one sharply to have Dubey caught behind, ending his 72-run stand with Patidar for the third wicket.

On Saturday, Mumbai will hope that veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, who suffered a knee injury, is fit to bowl at full tilt. As far as MP are concerned, they will look to follow the template that has served them well this season—bat as long as possible.