West Zone captain Wasim Jaffer wasnt in high spirits at the end of the second days play in their Duleep Trophy tie against East which wouldve seemed surprising midway through the day considering his team had taken a handy 111-run first-innings lead. But with East 128/3 at stumps 17 ahead with two full days of cricket left the match has suddenly come back to life,and though West are still at the wheel the contest could take a U-turn in the blink of an eye. Jaffer was candid enough to admit that it was all-rounder Abhishek Nayars bad shot a paddle sweep that was responsible for his team not taking what he called a match-killing lead. We were sailing at 198-5,and Nayar and Kedar Jadhav were playing well. But one bad shot changed things, Jaffer said. The flamboyant Nayar has different views on his dismissal,though facing left-arm spinner Anand Katti,had he top-edged the ball saying it was a shot he regularly played in matches and practiced in the nets. This contrasting perception brings into focus the thin line adventurous batsmen such as Nayar walk on. Like Nayar,there is a player in the East Zone team middle-order batsman Saurabh Tiwary who is neither a copy-book player nor a grafter. On Saturday,East will be banking on him to score quickly. Unbeaten on 12,with two fours,he has for company the teams mainstay Manoj Tiwary. Jaffer is wary that the two Tiwarys can change the complexion of a game,and East Zones new-ball bowler Ranadeb Bose,who with 4/70 was the most successful paceman in the match,believes his team have a chance if they can set West Zone a target of around 250 in the fourth innings. Ask the 19-year-old Saurabh,a junior World Cup winner,if he will be curb his aggressive approach on Saturday,and he doesnt mince words: Even if I score five ducks in a row,I will play the sixth innings the way that I always do.
