Dazzling Rohit Sharma hits 155 as Mumbai decimate Sikkim by 8 wickets
Jaipur (PTI): Rohit Sharma made a mockery of an inexperienced Sikkim bowing attack with a 94-ball-155 on his return to List A cricket, as Mumbai cruised to an eight-wicket victory in their opening Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Wednesday.
A near capacity crowd of 20,000-odd fans celebrated the Christmas eve witnessing the 'HitMan' carnage, which included 18 fours and nine sixes with Mumbai chasing down a target of 237 in just 30.3 overs.
Truth be told, there was not much to write home about Sikkim's bowling unit with Palzor Tamang, Kranthi Kumar, Gurinder Singh and Ankur Malik looking overawed or clueless from the moment Rohit took guard.
It started with a trademark pull-shot over mid-wicket off Kranthi for a boundary, followed by a swivel pull shot off his hips.
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The pacers lacked sting and twice, seamer Palzor's 125 kmph deliveries were swept fine behind the square for sixes.
Rohit played a few late cuts against the spinners using the pace of their deliveries. He was dropped twice but Rohit remained undeterred and always found a way to bisect the gaps at time and over of his choice.
Rohit also hit some delectable straight shots leaving the Sikkim bowlers in complete awe.
"It is the best day of our lives as we shared the pitch with such a great cricketer. He respected the good balls and punished the poor deliveries. At times he would speak to himself and say, "Yeh achha delivery thaa. Yeh shot mujhe waaha nahi yehaan marna chhiye thaa (This was a good shot. I should not have played this shot in that area)," Sikkim skipper Le Yong Lepcha told PTI.
Rohit had two partnership, one that yielded 141 runs for the opening stand with Angkrish Raghuvansi (38 of 56 balls) and another 75 with debutant Musheer Khan (27).
Abhishek contributes 48 in Punjab's win
Skipper Abhishek Sharma contributed 48 off 45 balls but it was Naman Dhir who stole the show with a fine 97 off 78 balls as Punjab beat Maharashtra by 51 runs in another group league game.
Punjab scored 347 for six largely due to contribution from Dhir along with Singh cousins -- Anmolpreet (85 off 78 balls) and Prabhsimran (60 off 77 balls).
In reply, Maharashtra managed 296 for 8 with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) enduring a rare failure.
Brief Scores
Sikkim 236/7 in 50 overs (Ashish Thapa 79, Shardul Thakur 2/19).
Mumbai 237/2 in 30.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 155).
Mumbai won by 8 wickets.
Punjab 347/6 in 50 overs (Naman Dhir 97, Anmolpreet Singh 85, Prabhsimran Singh 60).
Maharashtra 296/8 in 50 overs (Prithvi Shaw 47, Ramakrishna Ghosh 73, SS Bajwa 2/36).
Punjab won by 51 runs.
Chattisgarh 233 in 48.5 (Amandeep Khare 76, Deepraj Gaonkar 4/35).
Goa 234/4 in 44.1 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 107 no, Lalit Yadav 43).
Goa won by 6 wickets.
Himachal Pradesh 259 in 47.3 overs (Innesh Mahajan 60, DS Bora 4/44).
Uttarakhand 164 in 40.3 overs (Aanjaneya Suryavanshi 55, J Sucheeth 51, Akash Vashist 3/30).
Himachal Pradesh won by 95 runs.
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Dinesh Gundu Rao seeks more Vande Bharat trains between Mangaluru-Bengaluru; Writes to Centre
Says Mangaluru has potential to emerge as strong alternative to Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has written to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging the Centre to introduce additional Vande Bharat train services between Mangaluru and Bengaluru to improve daily connectivity.
In his letter, Dinesh Gundu Rao said the Karnataka government is focusing on developing tier-2 cities into modern work and industry destinations to ensure balanced growth across the state and generate employment opportunities. He noted that Mangaluru has the potential to emerge as a strong alternative to Bengaluru, citing its strengths in education, commerce and culture, but pointed out that inadequate fast transport links have limited the city’s growth.
The minister said that the absence of quick daily travel options forces professionals and businesspersons to spend nights travelling for short-duration work, resulting in loss of productive time. He described this as unfair to the people of Dakshina Kannada, many of whom regularly commute between the two cities.
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To address this, Dinesh Gundu Rao requested the introduction of Vande Bharat trains from Mangaluru to Bengaluru at 4 am, 10 am and 6 pm, with return services on the same day on all weekdays. He said such services would significantly benefit working professionals and business communities and provide a major boost to economic activity in coastal Karnataka.
The minister added that improved high-speed rail connectivity would facilitate exchanges in healthcare, banking, commerce and industry, as both cities complement each other. He also said better connectivity would attract travellers from other parts of India and abroad to Mangaluru, given the city’s existing infrastructure and facilities.
Stating that passenger occupancy would not be a concern for these services, Dinesh Gundu Rao said the proposal reflects the aspirations of both the Karnataka government and the people of coastal Karnataka. He expressed hope for a positive response from the Union Railway Ministry.
