Hyderabad, Nov. 1: Rajasthan needed only two bowlers to leave Hyderabad red-faced in Pink City on Monday. No batsmen got to the double digits, and debutant opener Akshat Reddy was the highest scorer with six runs in a Ranji Trophy Plate Division match.
Anirudh Singh could manage 5. Captain Ravi Teja made 1, his deputy Ibrahim Khaleel contributed 2 while Ahmed Quadri and pre-season captain M.P. Arjun chipped in with 4 and 2 respectively.
There were three ducks as well — Arjun Yadav and Anoop Pai; and tail-ender Kaneeshk Naidu, who successfully warded off Chahar’s hat-trick ball but fell to the next one to complete Hyderabad’s humiliation.
The shame comes at a time when Hyderabad is set to host a Test match in 10 days, having regained the status to stage them after 22 years.
The City side also slipped from the Elite to the Plate division this year.
The newly-elected body of the Hyderabad Cricket Association had vowed a change in approach to team selection by conducting zonal matches among a large pool of players from which performers were to be selected. But the HCA has been hit by allegations of bias in picking the senior side as some strong performers had been ignored in favour of those who wield clout in cricket circles.
However, the HCA secretary, D.S. Chalapathi, though “disappointed,” backed the selection committee. “They picked the best possible team,” he told this newspaper.
“There is no point blaming one or two players, the entire team failed as a unit. We will wait and watch till the end of season (on the course of action),” he said. In the same breath, he added: “We will discuss the matter with the coach, captain and senior players.”
\Former Ranji opener and chairman of the senior selection committee, Abdul Azeem, who has a couple of triple centuries under his belt, was more candid. “It’s a shocking score,” he said.
“We put together the best batsmen but they turned out to be very poor. They have to pull their socks up or face expulsion,” added Azeem, who was part of the 1987 Ranji Trophy-winning team.
Another selector, Vanka Pratap, “simply did not expect it given the good batting line-up.”
Pratap promised to get back after making enquiries about the standard of the pitch but did not, given the fact that Rajasthan had rattled up 220 for 2 in reply, riding on an unbeaten century by an ageing Hrishikesh Kanitkar. The 35-year-old is batting on 100.
Most of the HCA officials and senior coaches could not be reached for comment. The stalwarts may have been stunned by that sinking feeling. Understandably so, since many of them have been part of several highs in Hyderabad cricket.
The HCA’s Cricket Development Committee, which constituted various selection panels and picked the support staff for the current season, comprised M.V. Sridhar, V.V.S. Laxman, Vijay Mohan Raj, Arshad Ayub (HCA president) and S.L. Venkatapathy Raju (HCA vice-president), all of whom have once played huge roles for Hyderabad.
Vijay Mohan Raj and Arshad Ayub have been part of the 1987 Ranji Trophy winning side, which also included current chairman of selectors Abdul Azeem, chief coach Venkatapathy Raju, batting coach Vivek Jaisimha and HCA and BCCI vice-president N. Shivlal Yadav.
Three of the selection committee members — Azeem, N.P. Singh and Pratap — were also part of the Hyderabad side which holds the Ranji Trophy record for the highest score of 944 for 6 declared in 1994. That record was powered by the knocks of M.V. Sridhar (366), Vivek Jaisimha (211) and current fielding coach Noel David (207 n.o).
Now, to grapple with the worst score must be gut-wrenching for these former players.
Scoreboard
Hyderabad 1st innings:
Akshat Reddy c Jhalani b Deepak Chahar 6
Ravi Teja lbw b Deepak Chahar 1
Anirudh Singh b Pankaj Singh 5
Arjun Yadav c Chopra b Pankaj Singh 0
Anoop Pai c Saxena b Deepak Chahar 0
Ibrahim Khaleel b Deepak Chahar 2
Ahmed Quadri c Jhalani b Deepak Chahar 4
M.P. Arjun c Jhalani b Deepak Chahar 2
Alfred Absolem b Deepak Chahar 1
A. Lalith Mohan not out 0
Kaneeshk Naidu b Deepak Chahar 0
Extras 0
Total (all out; 15.3 overs; 78 mins) 21
FoW: 1-7, 2-12, 3-12, 4-12, 5-12, 6-18, 7-19, 8-20, 9-21, 10-21.
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 8-2-11-2, Deepak Chahar 7.3-2-10-8.
Rajasthan 1st innings:
Aakash Chopra st Khaleel b L. Mohan 65
VA Saxena b Alfred Absolem 9
Hrishikesh Kanitkar batting 100
Robin Bist batting 33
Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 1, nb 6) 13
Total (2 wickets; 72 overs) 220
FoW: 1-11, 2-160.
Bowling: Alfred Absolem 12-3-29-1; M.P. Arjun 13-2-52-0, Kaneeshk Naidu 14-5-34-0, A. Lalith Mohan 20-1-62-1, Ahmed Quadri 9-1-29-0, Ravi Teja 4-1-8-0.