Which cricket enthusiast won’t remember that afternoon on October 23, 1999, when Australia had employed nine fielders in the slip cordon against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. Exactly 18 years later, the same scene was repeated, but this time it was a Ranji Trophy match between Bengal and Chattisgarh in Raipur. Today morning when the tail-enders of Chattisgarh-Pankaj Kumar Rao and Shahanwaz Hussain was fighting hard to save the day for the team, Mohammad Shami and Ashoke Dinda were seen bowling at them with venom with nine fielders in the slip cordon.
“The idea was to not allow the batsman get away with any of the edges. I didn’t want to leave any gaps in between,” Bengal Skipper Manoj Tiwary told Sportstar from Raipur.
It started as a strategical move helped Shami and Dinda bowl with full confidence.
“The way Shami and Dinda bowled, I wanted to bring on their faces. A bowler gets a psychological advantage if he sees all the nine fielders are at the slips. It creates a happy frame,” Tiwary said.
The picture would surely bring back memories for the cricket enthusiast despite the last wicket coming of a caught behind.
Bengal eventually won the encounter by an innings and 160 runs. Batting first Bengal posted a mammoth 529 in their 1st innings courtesy centuries by Koushik Ghosh and Sudip Chatterjee. Ashoke Dinda bowled a sensational spell in the 1st innings and ended with magnificent figures of 7/21 in 10.5 overs to skittle out Chattisgarh for a mere 110 runs in their 1st essay.
In the 2nd innings, Dinda played the 2nd fiddle to India international Mohammad Shami who hogged the limelight with a six-wicket haul. He finished with 6/61 while Dinda chipped in with three each to finish the match with a ten-wicket haul.