A century against a well-rounded bowling attack, a display of emotion on reaching the individual landmark as a remembrance for his uncle who passed away on the morning of the match. Musheer Khan, the younger brother of Test-capped Sarfaraz Khan, stood tall by producing a well-crafted innings for Mumbai on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh at the Sharad Pawar Bandra-Kurla Complex ground here on Saturday.
A single to midwicket off left-arm spinner Aryaman Dhaliwal brought up Musheer’s hundred in the 143rd delivery he faced.
The jump in the air showed how much the knock meant to Musheer, and as he removed his helmet, his face was filled with emotion.
The batter later said he had tears in his eyes after reaching the landmark in memory of his maternal uncle, who had passed away on Saturday morning. This uncle had influenced his development as a cricketer growing up. “First of all, this century has come after a long time. And the second thing is that my mother’s brother (uncle) died this morning. So I was feeling very sad for him. I have been with him since childhood. I have played with him. So I was feeling a little weird. I became emotional after hitting 100. So I cried a little,” Musheer said.
When the day began there was anticipation of Sarfaraz scoring big runs after his low scores in the first three rounds. But Sarfaraz endured another disappointing outing, making 16 off 57 balls before falling lbw to fast bowler Vaibhav Arora. Musheer, along with the other centurion for Mumbai Siddhesh Lad, stole the show with a 157-run partnership for the fifth wicket. At 20, Musheer is the future, while 33-year-old Siddhesh Lad is a veteran of nearly 80 First-Class games. Youth and experience combined to take Mumbai out of the woods after they were reduced to 73 for 4.
On a surface that had early spite but eased out later, Musheer was the only batter who found a measure of the opposition attack in an absorbing opening session.
The HP fast bowling trio of Arora, Vipin Sharma and Arpit Guleria probed away on a channel mostly on off and middle stump, testing every batter during their stay at the crease. They beat the bat consistently, forced the batters to go into the shell, and kept a tight lid on the scoring rate.
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While others fell to their discipline, Musheer showed the desired application, trusting his defence against the straight deliveries and charging down the pitch more than once to negate the movement. He would occasionally tap the bat on the crease, adjust the velcro of his gloves, and look sideways into thin air, but nothing affected his focus when the HP quicks came charging in at him.
The right-hander also countered the twin left-arm spin threat of Mayank Dagar and Dhaliwal effectively, using both the paddle and the full blooded sweep to put them off their lengths. He played around the spinners’ minds by defending the straight delivery, playing with loose hands to not give the close-in fielders any chances.
Musheer got to his 50 with a leg glance for four in the 18th over and, after negotiating a difficult early phase, picked up his pace with the baking hot sun easing the pitch out considerably.
There was, however, one moment which landed him in trouble. In the 53rd over, Musheer was struck on the side of his helmet while batting fluently on 88 by a rising Guleria delivery, which needed the physio’s attention. The stoppage in play, however, did not affect his batting, and he got to a well-deserved hundred shortly.
Crisis man Lad
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It isn’t for nothing that Lad has been called the ‘crisis man’ of this Mumbai team for many years. While many batters thrive when their side is cruising, Lad brings out his best in a dire situation that requires immediate rebuilding. Saturday was another such instance, and he again rose to the occasion with an unbeaten 100 off 207 balls, and again rescued Mumbai when the chips were down.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 289/5 in 88 overs (Musheer 112, Lad 100 not out; Guleria 2/56) vs Himachal Pradesh.
