‘Zaheer, Nayar turned the tide’

Skipper Ajit Agarkar praises his pacers for the crucial win that keeps knockout hopes alive.

After winning the thrilling Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh, the expression on Mumbai skipper Ajit Agarkar's face was more of relief than elation. It was Mumbai's first outright win of the season and Agarkar hopes that with the knock out stage just a game away his team has finally hit the stride. In a chat with Sportsline, Agarkar speaks about Zaheer Khan's match winning spell, Abhishek Nayar and the road ahead for Mumbai.

Excerpts:

What was running through your mind during those tense moments?

I always had hope that we will win. Scoring those runs during the close contest was never going to be easy for Madhya Pradesh. At the end of the day they had to score 311 runs in the fourth innings and that is very tough. We knew that we had a grip on the situation. Ishwar Pandey did hit those lusty blow, two sixes off Nayar, and that made the game close. But he is tailender and he even got out in a way tailenders do.

Before the match you were desperate for three points but you leave Indore with six ...

The minimum we needed from this game was three points. Had we got less than that it would have been really tough for us to qualify for the knock out stage. But credit for this win should go to Zaheer and Nayar as they came up with solid performances. They ensured that we went home with six points.

Were you worried about the way Madhya Pradesh's last pair approached the game? They almost pulled the game with their aggressive batting ...

Such partnerships do happen in tight finishes. But fortunately Nayar kept cool. And credit should also go to Vishal Dabolkar, the substitute fielder, who took that incredible catch in those tense moments. It was last pair, had they were seven or eight down then scenario would have been different.

... contd.

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