Bihar's Ranji trophy comeback after 20 years gets off to a winning start
After a 20-year-long wait, Bihar finally took ground again in Ranji Trophy cricket on Wednesday. However, they were put on the backfoot immediately in their comeback to domestic cricket after two decades, as their top order batsmen failed to put up any fight whatsoever and gave away their wickets to loose shots.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first at Patna, the Bihar top order batsmen surrendered in front of the Sikkim bowlers.
At one point of time, they had lost six wickets for just 70 runs on the board. It looked like Bihar would be bundled up for a double-digit score. However, the No. 6 and No. 8 batsmen Ashutosh Aman and Vivek Kumar took charge and added an invaluable partnership of 141 runs for the seventh wicket, which led Bihar to a respectable total of 288 runs.
While the Bihar batsmen were struggling to score runs, the Sikkim bowlers were on the money right from the word go. Ishwar Chaudhary in particular was outstanding, and terrorized the opposition dressing room with his brilliant spell of bowling. Chaudhary took as many as 6 wickets while conceding 78 runs.
Bihar eventually made a full recovery as their bowlers ran through the Sikkim batting, dismissing them for 81 and 108 in the two innings. Bihar won the match by 395 runs as Sikkim fell well short of the target of 504.
Nevertheless, several critics have started questioning the performance of the Bihar team. Experts and former cricketers alike have expressed disappointment in the batting order of the team, criticizing the poor tactics shown by the Bihar team management.
MS Dhoni had made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar
It is worth noting that star Indian batsman MS Dhoni has a strong connection with the Bihar team. Dhoni was born on 7th July 1981 in Ranchi, which was then in the state of Bihar. However, in the present day, Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand.
Dhoni had started playing cricket for his school at the age of 12, and eventually made his Ranji Trophy debut for the state of Bihar. In his first game, Dhoni had impressed everyone with a half-century, and he even scored his maiden hundred in Ranji Trophy cricket playing for Bihar.
However, after a few years, when the state got divided, the cricket infrastructure of the state went to Jharkhand got its own team. This threatened the existence of Bihar cricket, as the likes of Dhoni started playing for Jharkhand.
The people of Bihar would hope that the region produces many more cricketers who make the nation and the state proud.