As good as it gets

Thanks to the excellent television coverage for the current Challenger Series, Venugopala Rao’s fine knock was finally on display for c...

Thanks to the excellent television coverage for the current Challenger Series, Venugopala Rao’s fine knock was finally on display for cricket fans across the country.

Venu’s father — Y Matcheswar Rao — has often missed watching his son’s batting in domestic tournaments, which lack television coverage of any sort. To add to the misery, Venu has still not been able to come up with an inning that he’s capable of in the few international matches he’s played so far. Therefore, despite missing a century at the Mohali Stadium on Monday, both the father and son were surely a happy lot.

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By and large, Venu managed to pace his innings to the effect that India Seniors eventually piled up 289/8 after being three wickets down for less than 100 runs. His run-a-ball knock overshadowed Ajit Agarkar’s fast-paced half century that remained the second best performance for the Seniors.

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That was all Kaif & Co could accomplish in their shocking last-over defeat against India ‘A’ side in the NKP Salve Challengers Trophy opener.

Playing against a full-fledged Seniors attack comprising Pathan, Zaheer, Agarkar, Harbhajan and Kartik, the India ‘A’ lower middle-order took the match down to the wire before emerging the heroes of the day. The match ended in India ‘A’s favour with just two balls to spare.

On a comparative analysis, VRV Singh and RP Singh showed more promise than their senior counterparts; Dinesh Kaarthick gave MS Dhoni a good run for his money; Romesh Powar did considerably well as compared to Harbhajan — both with the bat and the ball; and the ‘A’ tailenders showed more heart than their experienced opponents.

VVS Laxman, the winning captain, put things in the right perspective. ‘‘In such matches, cricketers usually concentrate on their individual performances more than the team effort. Last evening we decided not to do that and help the team win.’’

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The selectors were rightfully the busiest of the entire cricketing fraternity present at the stadium. Close to six hundred runs were scored by both teams and 17 wickets fell. Precisely, the batsmen and bowlers — both — had a field day and that made More & Co’s work all the more interesting. In all of this, two things topped the day’s proceedings. First: Indian cricket did well, and second: The selectors got to fill their plate with plenty more to choose from. Last, but not the least, Kaif ‘s captaincy towards the slog overs called for more application.

SCOREBOARD

		India Seniors: I Pathan b V R V Singh 28; S Tendulkar c Kaarthick b Balaji 12; M Kaif c Gambhir b R P Singh 7; Yuvraj Singh c Patel b Powar 50; Y V Rao b R P Singh 98; M S Dhoni c Badani b Powar 9; J P Yadav run out 1; A Agarkar not out 54; Harbhajan Singh c Raina b Balaji 4; Zaheer Khan not out 1; Extras (lb 1, w 15, nb 9): 25; Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs): 289 Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-54, 3-70, 4-149, 5-170, 6-172,7-177, 8-282. Bowling: Balaji 10-0-76-2, Rudra Pratap Singh 10-2-34-2, V R V Singh 10-0-63-1, Romesh Powar 10-0-54-2, Suresh Raina 7-0-38-0, Hemang Badani 3-0-23-0. India A: G Gambhir c Yadav b Pathan 21; D Jadhav b Khan 23; VVS Laxman run out (Dhoni/Harbhajan Singh) 48 ; S Raina lbw b Agarkar 19; H Badani b Harbhajan Singh 46 N Patel run out (Yuvraj Singh) 37 ; D Kaarthick c Dhoni b Pathan 26 ; R Powar c sub (S Vidyut) b Pathan 16; L Balaji lbw b Kartik 3; VR Singh not out 25; RP Singh not out 11; Extras (lb 6, w 6, nb 4) 16 Total (9 wickets, 49.4 overs): 291 Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-45, 3-82, 4-148, 5-200, 6-234 , 7-234, 8-242,9-275. Bowling: Pathan 10-0-69-3, Khan 7.4-0-53-1, Agarkar 5-0-31-1, Yadav 9-1-33-0, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-50-1, Kartik 8-0-49-1