The recent Elite Group B fixture of the Ranji Trophy at the Arun Jaitley stadium had some exciting scenes. On one side of the ring, it was Mumbai – 41-time champion, studded with some finest young talents and one outright win away from the quarter-finals. And on the other side, stand an unstable Delhi, finding it hard to even get their captain into the action. The team was already struggling to constitute a group of good bowlers and Yash Dhull falling sick added to their woes.
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Amid such an unassertive scenario, the management showed faith in a youngster and Delhi, which looked mostly perplexed this season, were a different unit altogether. The responsibility was handed to a young Himmat Singh and under his leadership, Delhi stunned Bombay with an 8-wicket win.
Himmat knew that he was going to have a heavyweight opposition, comprising the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Arman Jaffer & Ajinkya Rahane. But having led Delhi in age-group cricket, Himmat treated this fixture as just another game. And probably, the leadership brought the best out him as he played an 85-run knock in the first innings.
“Ek certain level of comfort aata hai. Aapne jaise kaha, maine bachpan se Delhi ko lead kiya hai. Main pressure leta nahi. I take it as a normal game because I have done it before as well,” Himmat told the media after Delhi’s outright win.
Had this been the result a couple of weeks ago, Delhi would have been enjoying a spot in the upper half of the points table. But it’s also a fact that the team had been through the roughest phases that saw a majority of players getting sidelined due to injury. But with every game, the players tried to defy the odd in whatever capacity they could.
“There have been changes. But the roles are clear to the bowlers. Everyone knows what is expected of them; the line, length etc. The results have come late. If we had got a couple of wins at the start, we might have been in contention for a knockout berth,” Himmat said.
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“We have executed whatever we spoke about in this game. That is why we never drifted away in this match. There were inexperienced players. It has taken them 2-3 matches to understand what they could do better,” he added.
Himmat never felt any kind of pressure while stepping into the captain’s shoes. After all, Delhi’s first victory this season came under his leadership. But at the same time, he also strong believes that the boys shouldn’t get carried away with the victory.
“I thought the same. We have set a benchmark now. We have to maintain this. We cannot afford to relax that we have won one game,” he concluded.
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