On a day when poor shot selection and cruel twists threatened to derail Mumbai, Suryansh Shedge’s dazzling stroke play stood out, bringing the defending champion back on track against Tripura on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ contest at the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Stadium in Agartala.

However, Shedge fell a solitary run short of a maiden First-Class hundred trying to clear the square-leg boundary, and his thrill-a-minute approach was eventually his undoing. 

Fate also dealt a cruel blow to skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who was found stranded outside his crease at the non-striker’s end when Siddhesh Lad’s drive back to the bowler resulted in the ball ricocheting onto the stumps off Parvez Sultan’s hand. 

Lad and Suryansh then combined, leaving little to chance during their counter-attacking 70-run partnership that attenuated the pinch of missing Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. 

Shedge was the aggressor, racing to a 43-ball half-century that included eight fours and two sixes. 

The 21-year-old was undeterred by Tripura seamers’ short-ball ploy. With Abhijit Sarkar and Rana Datta peppering him with bouncers, even as three men patrolled the boundary on leg-side, he responded with a pulled six off Datta. 

He lost his partner Lad shortly after Tea to an indiscretion outside off-stump, but Shams Mulani stepped up with a flurry of boundaries and maintained the momentum, taking Mumbai to 248 for six at Stumps. 

Earlier, Mumbai didn’t look comfortable after electing to bat. Ninety minutes of play were lost due to a wet outfield, and seamers Abhijit and Manisankar Murasingh gave the fans, who had turned up in good numbers and stayed on despite the delay, much to cheer.

Ayush Mhatre offered an outside edge to the slip cordon and Siddhant Addhatrao walked back shaking his head in disbelief after being strangled down leg-side.  

Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi steadied the ship with a 54-run stand before Shedge stole the show. 

News Credit: Sportstar