Pathan bats Baroda into the semi-finals

Baroda 308 and 172 for 5 (Pathan 82*, Mishra 2-29) beat Uttar Pradesh 269 and 210 by five wickets
Scorecard

Irfan continued his form as a batsman with an unbeaten 82 to take Baroda to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. With the ball, he remained lacklustre, getting 3 for 167 in the match © AFP

One match into his rehabilitation at the Ranji Trophy level, things haven't changed much for Irfan Pathan junior. He failed to get into rhythm with the ball but his batting, when Baroda were in danger of losing the match, would have done a specialist Ranji batsman proud. His aggressive 82 - off 100 balls, with six sixes and three fours - took Baroda from 52 for 4 to a successful chase of 172 and a spot in the semi-finals.

Starting the day at 17 for 1, Baroda faced sensible bowling from Uttar Pradesh, whose plan was to make Baroda graft for every run. Helped by their superior fielding, UP gave away only 35 runs in the first 15.4 overs, as three Baroda batsmen panicked and gave their wickets away. In walked Pathan, to shouts of 'get him, he's under pressure', from the UP bench, two of them being former India team-mates. He had four overs to negotiate before lunch, and he looked good in those four overs.

After lunch Pathan first picked on the most successful and threatening UP bowler, Praveen Kumar. He walked down the wicket, much like Matthew Hayden does, made room and lofted Kumar over extra-cover for his first six. In the next over, he stepped out to Piyush Chawla and lofted him for another six, this time into the sightscreen.

These were followed by singles, revealing a plan to the onslaught. In the next over Pathan hit perhaps the shot of the match: Just a punch from the back foot, no follow-through of the bat involved. It sped through the covers for four, and announced the presence of a good batsman at the crease. That was not the end of the onslaught; he took a four to extra-cover, and a six over wide long-on from Chawla's next over.

In a matter of four overs the game had turned on its head, but then Jacob Martin played an irresponsible shot - a loopy square cut straight to point. This is when Pathan's experience of having played in tight situations at international level came in handy. He started taking most of the strike, either running a single on the fifth or sixth ball, or clearing the field that had come up for the last two deliveries of the over.

Himanshu Jadhav did not score off the first 25 balls he faced, yet the scoring rate did not fall; the tension in the dressing-room did not resurface. Pathan slowed down as he moved beyond his fifty and once he had brought Baroda close enough, he shifted gears again. He hit Kumar for back-to-back sixes over extra-cover, the second one of which was caught superbly by Umang Patel, former Baroda offspinner, sitting in the stands. Chawla was hit for another huge one over cow corner. Winning runs, though, quite fittingly, came from Jadhav's square cut. Jadhav had been given out obstructing the field in the first innings and Baroda were not pleased that UP had gone for the appeal.

Baroda defended their lead in the points table of Super League Group A and UP moved one step closer to relegation. With Tamil Nadu tied with UP at four points, the final league match - against different opponents - will be a close fight for the bottom-of-the-table.

Today, though, was largely about Pathan, the best batsman on either side. Yet he will know that there's more to his return from South Africa. At the end of the day he told Neo Sports that just bowling in the nets had not been helping him and he needed longer spells in match conditions. He was not happy with his bowling in the first innings, but said he had improved through the match. At times he was pleased with the swing he got, especially in the three-over spell before lunch on day three. But happy as he is with his batting, he knows it will take some time to regain the bowling form.

If going for sixes were an objectionable addiction, Atul Bedade would have been an important member of Six-hitters' Anonymous. Twelve years after having played his last ODI and three years after retiring from all cricket, Bedade is now a Baroda selector and, watching his side play here, he remembers how he hit 12 sixes in his 91-ball 150 against Punjab in 1993-94; six-hitting, it can be safely said, fascinates him as a topic. He chats about Amol Muzumdar's batting and moves on to Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy and how he expected everyone to perform at his standards. These expectations were the main reason he did not do as well as a captain as he could have. Brian Lara had a similar attitude in his first stint but he has matured and now understand his players better. Put it to him that he handles players like Chris Gayle much better now and Bedade's eyes light up. Pointing towards the pitch, he says, "Only two people have hit the ball out of the ground from there, Gayle and I. He had ruined L Balaji's debut. I loved that innings. What a guy he (Gayle) is... I remember their team coming here, they visited my office. And Gayle came and sat with his feet on my granite table. I have never let anybody else do that..."

Being dropped from the side means different things for different people. For Irfan Pathan it apparently means an opportunity for his mother to get him married. According to a local newspaper, Bapor Samachar (meaning Afternoon News), Pathan's mother has in the past tried to meet two prospective brides but Pathan has managed to talk her out of it. Now, though, she seems quite determined, the paper reports in a news item that's accompanied by a picture which has Pathan's face superimposed on the body of a man sitting on a horse. This reporter showed the paper to Yusuf Pathan, who believes that, by virtue of being two years older and still unmarried, he should get the first go. Yusuf sees the paper and, laughing, says, "They write anything." If Yusuf's reaction is anything to go by, the BCCI need not worry about making travel arrangements for Pathan and Mrs Pathan on the next tour. If Mr Pathan makes it back to the team, that is.

Baroda, the city-state
Vadodara, home to the Baroda Ranji team, is one of three city teams in the Ranji Trophy, the others being Hyderabad and Mumbai - and with an area of 148.22 square kilometers, the smallest of the lot. Yet it boasts a proud Ranji history, having won it five times - the last in 2000-01 - and three times being runners-up. That's a better record from some full-fledged states, with bigger catchment areas, and attracts cricketers from pretty far afield. Players such as Abhimanyu Chauhan, the former Baroda Under-19 captain who moved here from Chattisgarh to further his cricket ambitions. Chauhan explains how, despite being a single-city team, Baroda do consistently well. They have six grounds which, he says, are all very good. The infrastructure is even better. The club rivalry here is intense too. Alembic, run by Kiran More, and Hindu Gymkhana have a history of intense rivalry. The corporate cricket here is strong too, with Alembic, IPCL (Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited), and GSFC (Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd) being the three major teams. The corporate cricket, according to Chauhan, provides the contests and also the finances. And you just wonder what if Baroda, Gujarat, and Saurashtra played as one state team.