Mumbai opener Rohit Sharma was out for a duck off the very first ball of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group ‘C’ encounter against Uttarakhand in Jaipur on Friday. However, his mere presence still helped the Mumbai team. On one-on-one interaction on the eve of the game with Hardik Tamore (93 not out off 82 balls) helped the wicketkeeper-batsman overcome his bad patch and guide Mumbai to a 51-run win.
Batting first, Mumbai’s Khan brothers, opener Musheer (56-ball 55) and Test discard one-drop Sarfaraz (49-ball 55) shared a 107-run stand off 90 balls. After Tamore came to the crease following Sarfaraz’s dismissal at 133-4 in the 22nd over, he continued the good work, shouldering the responsibility well, stitching a 95-run partnership with No. 8 Shams Mulani (35-ball 48) as Mumbai posted 331-7 in the allotted 50 overs.
Guidance pays off
Tamore, who hit seven fours and two sixes, revealed how Rohit’s guidance made the difference. “Yesterday [Thursday] evening, I spent around one-and-a-half hour in Rohit bhai’s room, picking his brain on what my mindset should be while batting at different positions — top-order or at No. 6 — in a 50-over game. He said that I should plan exactly when I want to attack and against which bowler. He explained how I should plan my innings while taking some risks in between. He shared a lot of things with me. I tried to apply some of it today and it helped. I benefited greatly from his advice,” Tamore told mid-day over the phone from Jaipur on Friday, when asked to describe his match-winning knock.
Rohit Sharma
Tamore, 28, had scored just 62 in four innings of the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. When probed further about how he thought of approaching the India stalwart for help to regain form, Tamore said: “Actually, Dhawal bhai [Kulkarni, Mumbai bowling coach] took me to his [Rohit] room. I told him my issues and he gave me the remedy. It was a very good meeting, which gave me a lot of confidence. After my innings today, he [Rohit] came up to me and appreciated my batting intent.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who got injured while taking a catch is stable, revealed MCA Secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar: “Angkrish is stable and is back at the team hotel from hospital on Friday evening. We are awaiting his reports.”
Kohli shines in Bengaluru
Elsewhere, star batter Virat Kohli (77 off 61 balls) and Rishabh Pant (70 off 79 balls) scored half-centuries in Delhi’s thrilling seven-run win over Gujarat in Bengaluru.
