MUMBAI: When Nitish Rana arrived at the crease on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium, Uttar Pradesh, after skittling out Mumbai for 198 on Day One of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B league match, were 136 for four, which became even more precarious at 152 for five when their well-set opener Samarth Singh (63, 107b, 8x4) fell to Shivam Dube.
Leading by example and taking the game by the scruff of the neck on a pitch with a green tinge on it, the Uttar Pradesh captain, who led the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL, launched a counter-attack, dancing down the track and then slog sweeping Shams Mulani for back-to-back sixes to the cow corner. Missing Ajinkya Rahane, who suffered a Grade 1 hamstring tear on Day One while running between the wickets, Mumbai squandered a major chance to net Rana on 0 when the ball went between Royston Dias's hands at deep mid-wicket, and paid a huge price for the lapse.
By the time Rana was pouched by Mulani off his own bowling, he had cracked a brilliant century (106, 120b, 12x4, 5x6) and showed how the captain's positive intent can swing the course of the match. It was his seventh First-Class century overall, first in four years, after his last one came in just 68 balls against Vidarbha in January 2020, and most importantly, the first for UP after switching from Delhi before this season.
Revealing the reason he switched from Delhi, for whom he has featured in 43 First-Class games since his debut in 2015-16, to UP, Rana told the reporters after Day 2's play: "It was in my mind that the dressing room atmosphere of the Delhi team was not good for my career. I felt that a change was necessary. I have always looked at UP as an Elite team, and I know people here. Luckily, I have got a team where I am getting respect."
The 30-year-old added 137 in 194 balls for the fifth wicket with Akshdeep Nath (41, 85b, 4x4), and while Mumbai fought back by taking UP's last five wickets for just 34 runs in 55 balls in the final session, the hosts still ended up conceding a 126-run lead, after their seamers Dube (3-32) and Dias (3-54) did well to bring them back in the game to some extent. Towards the end of the UP innings, Sameer Rizvi, who was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for a whopping Rs 8.40cr in the IPL auction last year, provided a glimpse of his special big-hitting talent, smashing three massive sixes, two in two off Tanush Kotian, in an unbeaten 27-ball 28.
It was indeed a surprise that the 20-year-old was batting as low as No 8, and eventually ran out of partners. Mumbai's openers Jay Bista (15 not out) and Bhupen Lalwani (9 not out) did well to stay intact in the nine overs that they had to bat with twilight approaching.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 198 and 24/0 vs UP 324 (Samarth Singh 63, Nitish Rana 106; Royston Dias 3-52, Shivam Dube 3-32)
