Shreyas Iyer’s career-best score of 233 put defending champions Mumbai in the driver’s seat at the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy game against Odisha at the MCA-BKC ground on Thursday.
Iyer’s marathon knock helped the hosts declare their first innings at 602 for 4 before reducing Odisha to 146 for 5. Mumbai’s batsmen filled their boots with Iyer, who started the day on 152, adding 81 to his personal score. His overnight partner Siddhesh Lad, who resumed on 116, remained unbeaten on 169. The two put on 354 for the fourth wicket, a Mumbai record in the Ranji Trophy, surpassing the 342 runs added by Rohit Sharma and Sushant Marathe against Gujarat at Brabourne Stadium in 2009-10.
If Iyer was showcasing his strokeplay, Lad eschewed risk in his approach. The former reached his third first-class double hundred, which came off just 201 balls, with a lofted straight drive for four off pacer Debabrata Pradhan. He was stumped by wicketkeeper Aasirwad Swain off the bowling of left-arm spinner Harshit Rathod after hitting 24 fours and nine sixes.
The double ton comes at a time when Iyer is looking to regain his old touch. Lad was delighted with his partner’s innings and approach.
“He plays positive cricket and loves to go after the bowlers,” Lad said.
If Iyer is trying to make a comeback to the Test side, till a few months ago, Lad wasn’t sure about his future in the game. Two years ago, he had moved to Goa as a professional player, playing there for a season before returning.
As per Mumbai Cricket Association policy, such players have to undergo a one-year cooling-off period before being considered again for the state team. In those two years, Lad says, he lacked motivation.
“In June last year, I didn’t know how things would go. The motivation was lacking. In the last two years, I didn’t have any great knocks, and had undergone a hernia surgery. There were a lot of things running in my mind and then the off-season camp happened. My team management gave me a push, we used to practise from 6:20 am to 6:20 pm. Post 30, the body doesn’t remain the same, so the team’s support staff had a different training programme for me which I followed,” Lad recalls.
His unbeaten 169 against Odisha came off 337 balls and he never looked in a hurry to attack. With Iyer scoring at a brsk rate, Lad took over the anchor’s role.
After Iyer’s dismissal, 21-year-old Suryansh Shedge took toll on a tired Odisha attack to smash a 36-ball 79 as Mumbai crossed the 600-run mark in quick time. His cameo included six sixes and seven fours.
Odisha were in trouble from the start of their innings as Swastik Samal played on to Shardul Thakur for a duck. Anurag Sarangi and Sandeep Pattnaik added 109 runs stand for the second wicket before they lost three wickets for two runs, and another one near the close of play. Mumbai spinners Shams Mulani and Himanshu Singh took two wickets each as Odisha ended the day trailing by 456 runs and staring at an uphill battle over the next two days.
Brief scores: Mumbai 602/4 declared (Shreyas Iyer 233, Siddhesh Lad 169 not out, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 92, Suryansh Shedge 79 not out) vs Odisha 146/5 (Sandeep Pattnaik 73 not out)
