When a team gets bowled out twice in a day, even a person who has just a limited knowledge of the game will undoubtedly blame the batsmen for such a disastrous display. But what can be called a bizarre assessment, few members of Maharashtra team have blamed their bowlers after their team was dismissed twice inside a day and lost the game by an innings and 118 runs inside two days against Odisha in Ranji Trophy?
Batting first, Odisha scored 319 runs with half-centuries from Biplab Samantaray and Deepak Behera. Odisha were reeling at 116 for 5 but some useful contributions from the lower-order batsmen helped them finish the first day on 311 for 9. They could add only eight runs on the second day before Maharashtra’s dismal show began. Odisha medium-pacers Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera wreaked havoc as Maharashtra were bowled out within 26 overs for a paltry 94 in their first innings. The story did not change in the second innings too as they were dismissed for only 107. Asked to follow on, Maharashtra were reduced to 45 for 7 and their chances of crossing the 100-run mark were looking bleak but an eighth-wicket partnership of 55 between Vishant More and Sanklecha handed them some respectability.
Criticising his bowlers for allowing the Odisha tail-enders to score vital runs, Maharashtra coach Shrikant Kalyani said: “I think on the first day we didn’t bowl a disciplined line and length so their batsmen scored a lot of runs. We gave them lots of loose deliveries, and they didn’t. I think we have to work on our basics, the bowlers and batsmen, before the next game. If you do your basics correctly, the majority of your problems will be solved.”
Well, he also admitted his team’s batting performance was nothing less than a shock.
“Yes, it was a shock,” he said. “There are no positives from this match, there can’t be when we have lost outright. As far as the pitch is concerned, we are not supposed to speak on the pitch.”
Ankit Bawne, Maharashtra’s leading run-scorer this season, was also critical of the bowlers and said: “It was difficult to bat because a few balls were keeping low and a few were bouncing right in front of your face. But still, credit goes to them. They played well. They scored 300 runs on the first day.If you see the video, or if you had seen the game live, you would have understood how we got out. I still feel, and everybody feels, that we didn’t bowl well. It wasn’t a 300-run pitch; we gave away too many runs. If both teams score about 100, then it’s a different game. But credit goes to them also, Samantray batted really well.”
Senior Odisha pacer Basant Mohanty also echoed Ankit Bawne and Shrikant Kalyani’s sentiments by saying: “The pitch was good – we scored 300 after all. The ball kept low on some occasions, but they did not bowl well. It was a helpful track, and bowling on the stumps gave us the best chance to pick up wickets.”