Madhya Pradesh is in the driving seat against 41-time champions Mumbai on the third day of the final match of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22. Madhya Pradesh team has reached the final of Ranji Trophy for the second time. Prior to this, he last played in the final of the Ranji Trophy in 1998-99. Its young openers Yash Dubey and Shubham Shyamsunder Sharma played an important role in taking Madhya Pradesh to the driving seat.
Yash Dubey and Shubham Shyamsunder Sharma both scored centuries. Shubham Sharma went unsold in the mega auction held before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. His base price was Rs 20 lakh. Shubham Sharma was dismissed for 116 runs in 215 balls with the help of 15 fours and a six.
At the same time, Yash Dubey scored 133 runs in 336 balls. Yash hit 14 fours during his innings. By the end of the third day’s play, Madhya Pradesh had scored 368 runs for 3 wickets in 123 overs on the basis of these two centuries. Captain Aditya Srivastava was unbeaten on 11 and Rajat Patidar on 67.
In this way, Madhya Pradesh is just 6 runs behind Mumbai on the basis of first innings, while its 7 wickets are left to fall. Mumbai’s first innings was all out for 374 runs in 127.4 overs. Sarfaraz Khan scored a century (243 balls, 134 runs, 13 fours, 2 sixes) from his side.
Apart from Yash Dubey and Shubham Sharma, opener and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri scored 31 runs for Madhya Pradesh. He hit 3 fours and 2 sixes during his 50-ball innings. Rajat Patidar showed a sharp hand in the beginning. He had completed his half-century in 44 balls.
However, later the Mumbai bowlers led by Prithvi Shaw reined in his pace. By the way, Rajat Patidar is looking in good rhythm. It remains to be seen whether he can complete his century on the fourth day or not. Mumbai’s fielding was also poor. He also did a no-ball in the first hour of the third day with a catch. For Mumbai, Tushar Deshpande, Shams Mulani and Mohit Awasthi took one wicket each for 73, 117 and 53 runs respectively.