Ranji Trophy: Hardik Tamore hits ton as Mumbai fancy win

MUMBAI: Nothing has come easy in life for Hardik Tamore. Every day, like many budding cricketers from Chinchani in Boisar, which is around 147 kilometres from Mumbai, he would wake up at 5 am. Tamore would then spend more than a couple of hours travelling in trains before his journey would culminate at the Total Vengsarkar Academy at Oval Maidan, Churchgate. After practicing there till about 9:30 am, he would begin his return journey.
Around five years back, that struggle ended when his parents moved to Mahim.In a similar manner, the 22-year-old’s quest to find a permanent slot in the Mumbai line-up, which seemed tougher in the beginning when he kept moving in and out of the side after making scores of 21, 51 and 2 in his previous three games this season, may just have become a bit smoother.
On day three of Mumbai’s final Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium, Tamore, after getting out for 12 in the first innings, cracked his maiden First-Class hundred (113 runs, 132b, 12x4, 1x6) to put his team in the driver’s seat. The youngster hails from the same district, Palghar, as India pacer Shardul Thakur.
“He’s an inspiration to all of us from that area,” he said.
Boys from the city get to play in inter-school tournaments like the Giles and Harris Shield, but there is no such platform for their counterparts in such far-flung areas.
“Our inter-school games are just 45 overs-aside. Even in that, if the other team is out for 100-odd, then you hardly get much batting,” he rued.
The opener was determined to cash in on this opportunity. “After getting dropped from the senior team, I scored a hundred against Saurashtra for the Mumbai U-23 team. I was feeling guilty that I had squandered my chances. I was playing this match with khunnas (determination), ki mujhe accha karna hi hai (that I have to do well). I had to justify the faith of the support staff who believed in me, and show my talent,” Tamore said.
Tamore’s fluent ton, and his 133-run stand, in just 144 balls, for the fourth wicket with all-rounder Shams Mulani, who hit his sixth half-century (70, 85b, 10x4) of the season, ensured that the hosts, after dismissing MP for 258, quickly made 238 for five in their second dig, before declaring to set their opponents a 408-run victory target.
“My seniors, Surya and Sarfraz (Khan) kept guiding me. They kept asking me to play my normal game, asking me to score a hundred and avoid risky strokes,” said Tamore, after showing a penchant for the reverse-weep.
Mulani and off-spinner Ankush Jaiswal then took a wicket each as Mumbai reduced an off-colour MP to 44 for two. With the wicket aiding spin progressively, they can hope to wrap up the remaining eight wickets and end the season like they had begun — with an outright win .
Even though the match is inconsequential, it has thrown up quite a few positives for Mumbai. After Gomel’s hundred in the first innings, it was the turn of the other opener, Tamore, who leads the Mumbai U-23 team, to come good in the second. Interestingly, both Tamore and Gomel, belong to Mahim.
“Incidentally, we’re roommates for this game too,” revealed Tamore.
In between, Jaiswal, playing his first First-Class game in four years, has done well to conquer his demons. The tweaker, son of a groundsman at MIG, took five wickets on his Mumbai debut, at Indore against, ironically, MP, but then had to sit out because of a doubtful bowling action. After a year’s work on it at the NCA, he returned, and captured a bucketful of wickets in local cricket this season.
On Friday, he took all the three remaining wickets, finishing with four for 58 to restrict MP to 258, after they had resumed at 200 for seven. He spoiled Venkatesh Iyer’s dream of scoring his maiden First-Class century, as the left-hander top-edged a sweep to mid-wicket on 93 (116b, 11x4, 2x6). Towards the close, he castled Anand Singh Bais with a beauty, as the ball zipped through the gap between bat and pad.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan, in the midst of supreme form, which saw him slam 177 in the first dig here, endured a rare failure. A Mihir Hirwani delivery, which seemed to have hit the rough, turned viciously from leg to hit his off-stump, when the batsman was on six. It meant he ended the tournament on 928 runs @154.66.