Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Yusuf Pathan wrongly adjudged out against Mumbai

The 2019-20 edition of India’s premier domestic tournament- Ranji Trophy- is in full flow, with four-day games being staged across the length and breadth of this cricket-mad nation. And, one of them is the Plate A & B encounter between 41-time Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and Baroda at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara.

After having endured a rather disappointing 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season, the domestic heavyweights Mumbai got off to a pristine start to their 2019-20 campaign when they defeated Baroda by a mammoth 309 runs to pick up crucial points. But, the victory did not come without its fair share of controversy.

It all happened during the 48th over of Baroda’s second innings when all-rounder Yusuf Pathan was adjudged out by the umpire for giving a simple bat-and-pad catch to short-leg off the bowling of Akash Parker [2-16]. Pathan, however, wasn’t happy with the decision. And, he had every right to do.

It was clear in the replays that the ball had gone straight off the pads to the short-leg fielder. Yusuf Pathan stayed put for a while and even had a discussion with Ajinkya Rahane before finally walking off in disappointment. Pathan’s dismissal caused a collapse as Baroda lost their last four wickets for 27 runs and were bowled out for 224. The Baroda all-rounder scored 14 runs off just 11 deliveries and was looking in good touch before getting out.

Shaw’s double-ton and Mulani’s 10-for sets up a massive win for Mumbai

Coming back to the game, Mumbai batted first and on the back of half-centuries from Prithvi Shaw [66], Ajinkya Rahane [79] and handy lower-order contributions from Shams Mulani [89] and Shardul Thakur [64] posted a competitive 431 in 106.4 overs. In reply, none of the Baroda batsman barring Kedar Devdhar, who scored nearly half of his teams’ total [160 out of 10-307 in 70.1 overs], had answers to Shams Mulani, who claimed 6-99 to help Mumbai claim a 124-run-lead after the first innings.

And, then it was all Prithvi Shaw. The precocious young talent gave another glimpse of his immense potential as he shellacked the Baroda bowlers to all corners of the Reliance Stadium to the tune of 202 from just 179 balls- an innings which included 19 fours and seven sixes.

Shaw also became the fastest Indian double-centurion in First-Class cricket in the past 30 years, and also paved way for Mumbai to take a 533-run-lead over Baroda. He was ably supported by Suryakumar Yadav, who himself scored a whirlwind 70-ball 102. And, then Shams Mulani- courtesy his four-wicket-haul- did the rest as Mumbai claimed a massive 309-run win to seal the deal.

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