Muzumdar's tears, Delhi's fears

He took them ever so close to that vital first-innings lead. He added 46 runs in 100 minutes with the last man. Only five runs were left for the lead when it happened. It was the fifth ball of the over, No.11 Mundeep Mungela was on strike and there was no need for Amol Muzumdar to go across the other side. But the natural reaction took over and a straight drive from Mungela saw Muzumdar take those few, eventually fatal, steps out of his crease. And it happened in a blur. Amanpreet Singh, the bowler, stretched his right hand out, got a faint touch on the ball, which richochet onto the stumps. Muzumdar turned in a hurry and dived but the ball beat him. Run-out. Punjab rejoiced. Muzumdar wept. Cricket won.

The tall 18-year old Ishant Sharma took his first five-for. What's the big deal, you ask. Well, two former Indian openers thought this would be the first of many. Chetan Chauhan, Delhi's coach, was effusive: "He is like a tiger. He is our champion. The way he bowled today without any other bowler's support was tremendous." Ashok Mankad, Baroda's coach, had a few words for the hacks. "Please leave him alone. Give this youngster time, he has all the ingredients to become a great fast bowler." We shall wait.

Chaos over selection, just ahead of the game against Baroda. Mithun Manhas drops Chetanya Nanda, the highest wicket-taker last season, and opts for Yogesh Sachdeva, son of a Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) honcho. Apparently, Manhas has been under severe pressure to play Sachdeva right from the start of the season. The DDCA sports committee was happy but one can't say the same about Delhi's cricket aficionados. Sachdeva returned figures of 11 overs, 31 runs and a wicket in the first innings while he was taken out of the attack in the second after leaking 31 runs in five overs.

"I want Karnataka to be Ranji Champions," Chandrasekhar Raghu had told Cricinfo at the start of the month. He followed the talk with action. He led Karnataka's run-chase almost single-handed, lifting them from a dire 73 for 7 to a win. Venkatesh Prasad, the coach, was impressed and called it an "amazing innings." While it remains to be seen whether he can take Karnataka anywhere close to the title, this is as good a start as any.

Pankaj Dharmani produced his 19th Ranji Trophy ton against Mumbai but the real landmark came when he reached 112. That's when he became only the second player from Punjab to amass 6,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy. Vikram Rathore, though, still has the record: 6494 runs, in 85 matches, with 20 centuries and 21 fifties.

Vijay Dahiya, the veteran Delhi wicketkeeper who played two Tests and 19 ODIs for India, has retired from all forms of cricket after a 15-year career. His sudden decision came just four days after he sat out the game against Baroda. He cited his hand-injury for his decision. "I can rest and then come back but then I will not be fair on this young boy [Puneet Bisht, the rookie wicketkeeper] too because then even I am not letting him settle also ... I always wanted to leave on my terms. Why should I let anybody take away that liberty from me?" Why indeed?

Chetan Chauhan, Delhi's coach, is clearly miffed with our man for not being honest about his illness going in to the game against Baroda. "I was not aware he was not fully fit going into the match. With the main strike bowler out of action, it affected the outcome." On the first day, Nehra bowled four overs before he rushed back to the pavilion and was violently sick. Chauhan was not just reacting strongly to the possible case of food poisoning; he was upset with Nehra for trotting off to Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh instead of resting after the first two games.

Nehra had gone to preside over a function as a chief guest and that's where he allegedly picked up the bug. A chastised Nehra expressed his regrets to Chauhan and assured him that it wouldn't happen again. All's well that ends well. Or is it? Although he was not directly involved, Nehra plunged headlong into another crisis. This time at Yuvraj's birthday bash where the infamous brawl broke out with an uninvited guest. Vijay Dahiya was also there at the party. Maybe he'd had enough and decided to call it a day.