It took a bit of pleading from one of the support staff members of the Bengal team to continue having a few knocks at the end of day four's play. The pleading didn't work as the rest of the team wanted to start off with a game of football. They were playing with such gay abandon, knowing fully where they are placed in the ongoing quarterfinal match against Gujarat, that Sairaj Bahutule - also in the game - had to constantly caution them 'Pair sambhalke'. But not sure too many paid heed. As Manoj Tiwary said, "we love our football", and the mood was celebratory anyway. The ongoing quarterfinal clash in Jaipur is like that game of chess where you've teased the king long enough and will continue to do so, only to eventually have him 'checkmated'.
Gujarat flattened by Bengal's relentless grind
Gujarat know it fully well too. They knew that as soon as their first innings got over. Even as the lead they had conceded was a 130-run lead with more than two and a half days left, there was very little scope of making a comeback unless something drastic happened. On Saturday, coach Vijay Patel was hoping for some luck to go their way, but 24 hours thereafter, he's aware that even luck won't be good enough. It's that kind of a wicket on offer at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
Gujarat batsman Manprit Juneja however, chooses to look at this in a different light.
"We were aware that the wicket becomes easier as the game progresses. Even for us (while batting), it wasn't that difficult," Juneja says. "It is just that one hour where they bowled well, the ball was moving a bit and we collapsed. Had we batted well that hour, we could have gone long. So wicket is not something that we can complain about. It's going to be the same for both the teams."
The crux of cricket lies in the fact that it offers you a second chance. The pitch here, doesn't. Thus, it was no surprise that as soon as Bengal manged to take a lead, the orders were simple - 'Poora khelna hai'. And all Gujarat hoped was for that one session of magic, where wickets will fall in a heap - maybe due to overcast conditions or some harakiri by the batsmen. But, in return, all they got were only three wickets falling in the day,
