Ranji Trophy: Young Shreyas Iyer makes a point

MUMBAI: Young turk Shreyas Iyer slammed his second hundred of the season to help Mumbai stave off defeat on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Making up for his first innings' failure, Iyer hit an unbeaten 142 (181b, 15x4, 2x6), adding 95 with Siddesh Lad (43, 61b, 7x4) for the fourth wicket and 106 for the fifth with teenaged batsman Sarfaraz Khan, who was graciously allowed to complete his maiden half-century by the Mumbai team management.
The 17-year-old, who hit four fours and a couple of sixes in his unbeaten 52 off 71 balls, will surely be boosted by this gesture, which after the players were told to 'carry on' as the youngster was batting on 46.
After MP declared on their overnight score in order to search for wickets and an outright win, Mumbai carved out a draw by finishing at 311 for four as the traditional turn of the Wankhede track went missing.
It still was no excuse for the way offie Jalaj Saxena, who went for 84 runs in his 11 overs, and left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma bowled. Both kept drifting down the leg side, providing easy fodder for Mumbai's batsmen.
Mumbai coach Pravin Amre Amre gave credit to MP's centurions - skipper Devendra Bundela and Naman Ojha -for taking the game away from his side.
"The way these senior pros batted was a lesson for our youngsters in chasing a 400-plus total. They showed how the batsmen must take responsibility, and not play a loose shot till the target is achieved. We were hoping for one mistake from them, but they didn't allow us that chance," he said.
Wankhede is a happy hunting ground for Bundela -almost a decade back too, his ton had helped MP seize the first innings lead against Mumbai here.
While Amre listed out discovering Iyer's 'ability to bat under pressure' as one of the positives for his team from the match, he was unhappy with his bowlers' pedestrian effort, which resulted in MP rustling up a mammoth 538 for seven declared.
"We are really disappointed with the way we bowled. We should've been more disciplined, like we were in our last two games. That really cost us," he rued. "There are areas to work in the bowling department. If Shardul (Thakur) is not getting wickets, there is a question mark about who else will. The spin department, too, is a concern for us. We will work on these areas before the next game," he said.
Amre's concern is logical. Once Thakur, who with 23 sticks is the top wicket-taker this season, failed to get a single batsman out in MP's innings, Mumbai were searching for answers. Having bowled 171 overs in five games this season, the pacer can't be expected to bowl at the same level all the time.
Amre defended not playing offspinner Akshay Girap, who has been a part of the squad since the last four games, by saying that the wickets haven't been conducive to spin at all so far.
Girap, he revealed, is likely to be played in Mumbai's next game against Tamil Nadu at Chennai on what should be a turner. The coach was also concerned at Mumbai failing to take 'home advantage' at the Wankhede of late - they had lost to Jammu & Kashmir at this venue earlier in the season.
The good news is that with the final critical stretch of the league stage beckoning, the Ranji giants are set be boosted by the return of veteran opener Wasim Jaffer and all-rounder Abhishek Nayar for that encounter, which will begin from January 21.
Brief scores: Mumbai 404 and 3114 (S Iyer 142, S Khan 52 no, A Tare 57, P Datey 3-43).MP 5387 decl. Draw MP 3, Mumbai 1.