In recent times, both Amay Khurasia and Gagan Khoda have had one thing in common. Neither have been in the good books of the state selectors. On Friday, the first day of the Ranji Trophy Central Zone one-day league, the two showed why keeping faith in experience can be productive.
While Khoda grafted a century (116), in a manner distinct from his usual reliance on boundaries, Khurasia plundered 157, helping Madhya Pradesh pull off a remarkable victory. The visitors beat the hosts by four wickets and honestly, the margin simply doesn't reflect the actual facts. That MP dominated almost throughout when they batted remains concealed in the scoreline.
None of the two sides fielded well and it was this fact too that helped the batsmen flourish. Madhya Pradesh, who'd ruined the opportunity to use early moisture after winning the toss must have found the game slipping from their grasp after Gagan Khoda, in the company of the others, made their attack look sub-standard.
Though the others contributed only 20s - barring middle-order batsman Nikhil Doru who made 30 - it was enough of a platform for the lower order to take charge. Khoda, incidentally, had been facing flak from selectors and it had been suggested by certain quarters here that his inclusion in this side was only due to intervention from Jadeja and some others.
Anyways, he showed that he can still bat and, courtesy some munificence from MP skipper Syed Abbas Ali who dropped a sitter in covers when Khoda was on 42, the one-drop batsman held the innings together. But alas his effort was squandered by the latter batsmen and with Ajay Jadeja (9 not out) having to retire hurt in the slog overs, and sit in the dressing room for the rest of the match, Rajasthan were cut to shreds.
{{/usCountry}}Anyways, he showed that he can still bat and, courtesy some munificence from MP skipper Syed Abbas Ali who dropped a sitter in covers when Khoda was on 42, the one-drop batsman held the innings together. But alas his effort was squandered by the latter batsmen and with Ajay Jadeja (9 not out) having to retire hurt in the slog overs, and sit in the dressing room for the rest of the match, Rajasthan were cut to shreds.
{{/usCountry}}Naman Ojha and Khurasia, who was dropped after the first game this season but made 80 in the comeback game against Saurashtra, started in a brisk manner and even though Ojha was run out after a mix up, Syed Abbas Ali (50 off 55 balls) and Khurasia carried on smoothly towards the 299-run target.
The Rajasthan attack lacked zing and the sub-par fielding made it worse. Of course, Jadeja's absence was felt and he was seen pulling his hair inside the dressing room.
There were overthrows and the ball escaped not just from either side of the fielders, but also from between the legs, beneath the torso and through the cupped hands.
SCOREBOARD
Rajasthan (R Sharma c Khurasia b Pitre 21, Khoda c ali b Golwalkar 116, Kanwat c Mishra b Pitre 23, Gill b Pitre 20, Doru run out 30, Jadeja retd hurt 9, P Singh c Mohnish b Pandey 2, Yagnik run out 16, Ahmed 22, Shamsher 5). Extras (lb-15, nb-8, w-11) 34 Total 298 for 7 in 50 overs FoW: 1-58, 2-123, 3-152, 4-230, 5-251, 6-254, 7-276. Bowling: Pandey 10-153-1, Rajan 5-0-36-0, Bundela 7-148-0, Pitre 10-2-47-3, Golwalkar 10-1-40-1, Abbas Ali 8-0-59-0. MP (Khurasia c Kanwat b Shamsher 157, Ojha run out 8, Abbas Ali c Gill b Kanwat 50, Bundela lbw Pankaj 44, Tomar lbw Pankaj 8, Mohnish not out 8, Bakshi run out 5, Saxena not out 7). Extras: (b-2, lb-9, w-1) 12 Total: 299 for 6 FoW: 1-21, 2-137, 3-269, 4-273, 5-280, 6-290. Bowling: Gill 1-2-39-0, Mathur 8.4-0-76-0, Pankaj 10-055-2, Shamsher 8-0-45-1, Kanwat 8-0-42-1, Ahmed 4-0-31-1.