Rest Of India Beat Madhya Pradesh To Win Irani Cup

The rest of India’s bowling unit worked like a well-oiled machine as the team defeated Madhya Pradesh by 238 runs on Sunday to retain the prestigious Irani Cup. MP were bowled out for 198 in 58.4 overs as the match ended during the first session of the fifth day, chasing a near-impossible 437 for victory. The Gwalior track was a throwback to the days when there was help for every department of the game after the so-called result-oriented and under-prepared pitches for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy received a lot of flak. There were four tonnes scored in the match, 40 wickets were taken, and pacers and spinners had an equal say throughout the game.

One example is the MP second innings, in which the pacers and spinners each took five wickets.

Seamers Mukesh Kumar (2/34), Atit Sheth (2/37) and Navdeep Saini (1/34) annihilated the MP top-order, while off-spinner Pulkit Narang (2/27) and left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (3/60) mowed down the lower middle-order and tail.

In the morning, MP skipper Himanshu Mantri (51) was given a raw deal by umpire Rohan Pandit, who raised his finger even though the batter had not actually nicked one behind the stumps.

MP lost wickets at regular intervals as first-innings centurion Yash Dubey was cleaned up by Mukesh Kumar’s lethal in-cutter.

There was no let-up in the intensity of the bowlers from the rest of India, and MP didn’t stand a chance.

For the RoI team, which is mostly made up of Indians, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored 357 runs in two innings (213 and 144) was the game-winner.

“If I would have remained not out (on Day 1) I would have gotten a 300 and that would have been better,” Jaiswal said after the match.

He praised opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (154), with whom he shared a triple hundred plus stand.

“I had an experienced partner in Easwaran and it was amazing to bat alongside him,” the southpaw said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Another piece of good news was Navdeep Saini bowling 29 overs at a quick pace over two innings.

Easwaran also demonstrated why he is regarded highly among Gen-Next openers. The only thing people criticise him for is his inability to deliver in high-pressure games for Bengal.

Across the three red ball seasons, Bengal played eight knockout games (quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals), but the Team India contender failed to make an impression in the games that mattered.

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