Navdeep Saini shining, so are Delhi

NEW DELHI: Having come in at No. 10, Shailender Gehlot had batted 78 minutes and held one end up when opener Siddharth Saraf's determined knock (88) was ended by Shivam Sharma. Gehlot barely had minutes to survive with No. 11 Aniket Chaudhary in the fast fading light, but a sudden lapse in concentration ended it all as Delhi walked away with victory with a bonus point to boot in this heavily curtailed Ranji Trophy match.
Seven runs adrift of wiping the 239-run deficit, Gehlot decided to hoist off-spinner Shivam and ended up hitting into the safe hands of Rajat Bhatia at deep mid-wicket. Saraf's fighting 297-ball 88 thus came to a naught and the significance of Navdeep Saini's figures of 4/48 grew in significance.
With the visitors resuming at 782, Saini, who hails from Karnal, generated lively pace and excitement after another delayed start. Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir's persistence and faith in pacer Saini was rewarded on a pitch which their coach Vijay Dahiya claimed did very little for the bowlers.
As Saini sliced through the middle-order early in the morning, dismissing Rajasthan captain Ashok Menaria and Rajesh Bishnoi off successive balls, the visitors were hanging in by a thread, which was clearly Saraf. The thread was finally cut by a Shivam special that knocked off his off-stump's bail.
The victory has revived Delhi and probably also given much-needed confidence to rookie Saini that he belongs to this level of cricket despite having not played any competitive cricket at the age-group levels. "Gautam bhaiya told me to just focus on my bowling and not think about the controversy around my selection last year. That has helped me and I am glad that I have performed in this match with seven wickets," said Saini.
Even Saraf, the man who looked like never getting out, conceded, "Saini was the toughest to play. He was lethal against the right-handers. He didn't trouble the left-handers as much, though." He has obviously given Saini some food for thought.
Talking of improvement, Saini has looked better than last season ­ there is a certain zip in his deliveries. "I have been in constant touch with Gautam bhaiya right through the off season. I did a lot of strengthening work and also worked on bowling a particular line," the wiry medium-pacer remarked.
For Delhi, it was a win anchored by youngsters in Unmukt Chand (146 in the first innings), Saini (match figures of 779) and Shivam (340 in the second innings) with the seniors in Virender Sehwag, Mithun Manhas and Parvinder Awana guiding them through the tricky patches.