hough, Ashok Dinda was Bengal’s best bowler, accounting for the openers – Aryaman Birla and Ankit Dane. Express Photo Pradeep kocharekar
An umpiring howler threw a spanner into what was promising to be a fascinating contest. A glaring error from umpire Sadashiv Iyer ended Naman Ojha’s innings on 74, all but finishing Madhya Pradesh’s chances of overhauling Bengal’s first innings total of 510/9 declared. The Madhya Pradesh captain looked set for a big one. But he was given out caught at forward short leg by Koushik Ghosh off part-time leggie Anustup Majumdar, notwithstanding the fact that there had been daylight between bat and ball. Ojha stood in disbelief, pointed towards the pad before trudging off. As he crossed the boundary rope, he stopped and once again expressed his disbelief to his team mates. But unlike the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Delhi, he kept his temper.
Ojha was Madhya Pradesh’s best bet to chase down Bengal’s imposing first innings total. Resuming on overnight 15 for no loss, the visitors lost their openers early. And then, it became Ojha or bust for Madhya Pradesh after Rajat Patidar, who made 196 against Tamil Nadu in the last match, was castled on 49 by Aamir Gani. As usual, though, Ashok Dinda was Bengal’s best bowler, accounting for the openers – Aryaman Birla and Ankit Dane. But Ojha was solid and neutralised the threat. He was also helping Shubham Sharma at the other end to grow in confidence.
Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary brought on Majumdar to break the partnership. Bowling from the club house end, the leg-spinner fired one a little quicker. Ojha went forward, bat behind the pad. The ball deflected to short leg where Ghosh took it. The bowler and the close-in fielders went up instantaneously. And a little belatedly the umpire raised his finger.
Last month, during the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Delhi, Ojha had gotten into an ugly altercation with umpire Rajeev Godara after Nitish Rana wasn’t given out to a confident appeal for a catch at square leg. It had stopped proceedings for 20 minutes. Today, the MP skipper controlled his anger. Sharma, who was at the non-striker’s end, agreed that Ojha’s dismissal put his team on the back foot. At the same time, he put things in perspective. “Yes, we could have been better placed. But this is part of the game. Obviously, Naman was upset. But you have to accept the umpire’s decision,” Sharma said after the day’s play.
Poor umpiring in domestic cricket has had been a long-standing issue. Last year, during the Irani Cup, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel had lost his cool after he was given out caught at short leg. The stump mic had caught him saying: “Umpiring karte kyon ho.” The BCCI organises pre-season workshop for umpires and match referees every year. Still, S Ravi remains India’s tenuous link to Elite umpiring.
From Ojha’s perspective, this Ranji season is going to be important, with the ‘keeper’s position unsettled in the Indian team following Wriddhiman Saha’s injury. Rishabh Pant has impressed with the bat but his glovework is scratchy. The selectors have brought back Parthiv for the upcoming tour of Australia.
Ojha was Saha’s understudy after MS Dhoni’s Test retirement. He made his Test debut in Sri Lanka in 2015 and did a decent job. But things suddenly started to go downhill. In August 2016, he was made the captain of the India A team. Inexplicably, he then got a call from the selectors saying he was dropped from the side, and Manish Pandey would be replacing him as the captain. Ojha went to Australia two weeks later and led India A in two unofficial Tests. But he had spoken about how the uncertainty affected his confidence. A side strain made matters worse, as he gradually started to fade. Dinesh Karthik’s return to the Test fold earlier this year and also Parthiv’s recall for the tour Down Under, however, gives a glimmer of hope to Ojha. A strong Ranji season might bring him back into the reckoning.
Brief scores: Bengal 510/9 decl lead MP 254/5 (Naman Ojha 74) by 256 runs.