Fans unhappy as Jharkhand win without services of MS Dhoni

Shouts of “Saurabh Tiwary hai hai” were pretty loud and clear at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground, Kalyani during the Vijay Hazare Trophy encounter between Services and Jharkhand. The small crowd that had gathered to witness MS Dhoni bat were left miffed and disappointed as the Jharkhand side did not require his services on the day. Chasing a stiff target of 276 set by the Services side, Jharkhand had a stuttering start. They were reduced to 65/3 by the end of 17 overs and things looked grim for them.

It was then that Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi joined hands to form a brilliant match-winning partnership. They added an unbeaten 214 runs for the 4th wicket to see Jharkhand win the match with 22 balls to spare. Both players were riding on their luck and were dropped during the run chase. Tiwary was dropped on a duck by Shakti Malviya and Ishank Jaggi was given a life on 25. Tiwary and Jaggi scored their tons en route the stunning run chase to complete a clinical outing. Tiwary remained unbeaten on 102 off 103 balls with 3 fours and 6 sixes. Ishank Jaggi aggregated unbeaten 116 off 92 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes.

Despite not having needed services of MS Dhoni on the day, both batsmen reflected back at how Dhoni helped them in the run chase. Jaggi noted that the tips given by Dhoni in the drinks break helped them bat steadily. Tiwary also said that he was relaxed knowing Dhoni was next in. Also, he did not let himself down by the chants of the crowd wishing for him to get out.

“Mahi bhai advised us to play in a calm and composed manner. He told us, ‘If you play with patience runs will come. It’s about staying there and finish the game’,” Jaggi quoted.

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“We played without any pressure well aware of the fact that MS comes next. We must understand that they’re emotional as Mahi bhai never played here…Being a professional I did not mind. We were subjected to much more sledging on the field,” said Saurabh Tiwary.

Earlier in the match, Dhoni did enthral the audiences flocked in thousands with two brilliant run outs and a caught behind dismissal.