Sehwag speaks to Gambhir from Perth to congratulate the Delhi skipper on the Ranji win MUMBAI: The Wankhede is thousands of miles away from the WACA but India’s 72-run win and Delhi nine-wicket victory were celebrated in equal measure in the home team’s dressing room that belonged to Gautam Gambhir’s team.
Ishant Sharma, who made Australian skipper Ricky Ponting look like a bumbling amateur, played a part in Delhi reaching the final and Virender Sehwag captained the first class side before being flying own to Australia.
By the time RP Singh bamboozled Shaun Tait to clinch the coveted win at Perth, his teammates playing at the Wankhede had been knocked out cold. The game in Mumbai went into tea with Delhi just six runs away from their first Ranji Trophy title in 17 years. Beside the dressing room, three selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Jagdale and Bhupinder Singh Sr kept a close watch on the proceedings at Perth on television, the only one that was telecasting the game at the Wankhede.
Shortly, the chief selector was posed the obvious questions. “Sehwag played very well both innings and importantly he started off very well at the top of the order. He also got crucial wickets. His contribution has been very good.”
Talking about Sharma, Vengsarkar said: “It is heartening to see that Ishant is improving fast. If you look at his performance in England it was so-so, but in this match he showed a lot of improvement.”
In Perth, Sehwag celebrated with gusto with his teammates. But he was keeping tabs on Delhi’s fortunes. He tried to get in touch with Gambhir, but the Delhi skipper and the rest of the team, were at the presentation ceremony.
Once the trophy was presented and the formalities completed, Gambhir and his merry men once again had a ball in the dressing room, before the Delhi skipper readied for a media interaction. It was then that DDCA’s sports secretary Sunil Dev, called up Sehwag in Perth and handed over the phone to Gambhir, who has done more than enough to get back into the ODI squad, and congratulatory wishes were exchanged.
Young left-arm seamer Pardeep Sangwan was happy for Sharma, who has been his fast bowling partner and room-mate. Sangwan took three wickets for five runs in a five-over spell to ensure that the Uttar Pradesh tail didn’t wag in the morning and bowled commendably, in the absence of partner, who is away in Australia.
At the end of Day Four, the celebrations at the WACA and the Wankhede resounded with some similarity.
