another accidental injury on Cricket field - all is well for Rohan Bhosale

A test at Sydney – Aussies are still talking about Phil Hughes; nearly half of Australia's XI for this Test - David Warner, Shane Watson, Nathan Lyon, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Starc - were on the ground when Hughes collapsed. For them it is all about  raw emotion, but will still sledge, throw wildly and more …  Back home, after their disastrous show in two consecutive home matches, bottom placed Bengal  take on equally struggling Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy group A fixture.  Bengal, gracing the bottom position in the nine-team group with four points from three matches, picked up just one point in the last two home matches. It lost the first against current leader Karnataka, and was bailed out by bad weather when Mumbai forced it to follow-on in the second. Tamil Nadu, placed fifth in the table with eight points from four matches, is slightly better off on the points front.

The history of Ranji trophy is traced back to 1934.  Named after Ranjisinhji Vibhaji Jadeja, the Prince of Nawanagar in Gujarat,  used tobe a zonal format as Tamilnadu vied with Karnataka, Andhra, Hyderabad, Kerala and Goa.  In 2003 it changed with the 27 teams  broken into two divisions = Elite and Plate. Now Tamilnadu are in Group A.  The unique rule of Ranji trophy, then and even now, is first innings lead. If teams fail to register outright wins, whichever made more runs with first 10 wickets is adjudged the winner.  So first innings is of utmost importance ! Mahendra Singh Dhoni  has just retired and people have been reading more and more statistics of his illustrious career.  A lesser known fact is that Dhoni was an employee of Railways before being picked for India, was known to be very keen back then on representing the Railways in Ranji Trophy. He had scored heavily in the Railways’ annual inter-railways tournament but was overlooked for the main side.

On a bright sunny morning, Chennai played Railways at their home turf on Dec 31 – the first 3 days were truncated by rain – an outright win was improbable and as usual, first innings was vital.  Chennai dawned bright and sunny on Wednesday (December 31), allowing the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 clash between Tamil Nadu and Railways to start on schedule for the first time in four days. After the first three days were truncated by rain, the only major issue for either team on the final day was the first-innings lead. And half-centuries from Ashish Yadav (51) and Arnab Nandi (50), the overnight batsmen, meant that Railways eventually claimed the lead, along with three crucial points.

On day 1, Rohan Bhosale of Railways was injured taking a full-blooded sweep on his neck, while fielding at shortleg.  Irfan Ullah, the Railways physio said ‘Rohan Bhosale isn’t a man who gets worried by such small things”, when asked of the batsman’s condition after that injury.   Bhosale was rushed to hospital, underwent a scan and medical tests which revealed that there was no apparent life threat.  It was a sweep of Rajagopal Sathish off Ashish Yadav that his Bhosale right on the neck region below the helmet.  He was dizzy and needed immediate medical attention.  The arrangements were in place, Bhosale was stretchered off the field and taken to Apollo Hospitals in an ambulance and given emergency treatment.

TN made a not so challenging 213 and at stumps on penultimate day Railways were 133 for 6 – which kept the match wide open (for the first innings lead !) Railways leg spinner Ashish Yadav claimed three wickets in space of 12 balls to end with figures of six for 68.  Abhinav Mukund (57), Baba Indrajith (51), R Satish (41) and Baba Aparajith (27) were the main contributors for Tamil Nadu. 

When Railways’ ninth wicket fell with the score reading 212 and the team needing two more runs to secure the first innings lead,  Tamil Nadu’s K. Bharath Shankar, who snapped up Arnab Nandi’s catch at silly point ran around joyously, probably thinking it was all over for Railways. The rest of the team also joined the celebrations.

But out came Bhosale with bits of bandages still dangling and his attire hastily arranged, which was most unexpected.  Anureet Singh’s single tied the scores and the injured  Bhosale, with a paddle sweep down to fine-leg, hit the runs which fetched Railways three vital points. 

“I am very happy,” said Bhosale, sporting a neck-guard, after the match. “Playing was always in my mind.  He was to further say that - “The wicket fell when I was just entering. I didn’t even wear socks. No guards. My pads were mixed up. I came directly from the hospital. The doctors initially didn’t allow me to leave. We had to convince them.”  Bhosale had been advised three weeks rest – but entered the ground and took his team to a victory. 

A really brave effort, indeed.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar                                                                          5^th Jan 2015.

1st photo credit : espncricinfo.com and 2nd one wisden.com