Kolkata, Nov 5: Domestic giants Mumbai got their hands on the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, the elusive silverware missing from their bulging cabinet, defeating Himachal Pradesh by three wickets in the summit clash here on Saturday.
Mumbai bowlers were right on the money as spinner Tanush Kotain (3/15) and medium pacer Mohit Avasthi (3/21) shared six wickets between them to restrict Himachal Pradesh to 143 for eight.
Chasing the modest target, Mumbai had their share of hiccups before Sarfaraz Khan once again showed what he is capable of with a timely unbeaten 36-run cameo off 31 balls to help his side cross the line with three balls to spare.
There was no one player that dazzled in the summit clash.
Opting to field, Mohit drew the first blood by striking early, getting rid of Himachal wicketkeeper Ankush Bains (4) and Sumeet Verma (8) within the first five overs.
Spinner Tanush (3/15) then turned the game on its head with two consecutive wickets in the eighth over.
Nikhil Gangta (22), who was looking in good touch, was Tanush's first victim as he tried to smash a back of length delivery for a boundary but the ball failed to get the required elevation with Aman Hakim Khan taking a fine catch at deep midwicket.
Impact player Nitin Sharma was the next to go, as he departed for a first ball duck with Himachal slipping to 51 for 4 which became 52 for 5 in the next over.
Himachal lower order comprising of Akash Vasisht (25), Ekant Sen (37) and Mayank Dangar (21 not out) added 91 runs but failed to breach the 150-run mark.
Defending a modest total, medium pacer Rishi Dhawan (2/26) bowled a beautiful spell to get rid of the big-hitting Prithvi Shaw (11) and skipper Ajinkya Rahane (1), who was trapped leg before.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (27) and Shreyas Iyer (34) steadied the innings but spinner Mayank Dagar (2/24) broke the 41-run partnership as the former sliced the ball to the deep cover fielder.
Iyer, who slammed four boundaries and a six, then joined hands with Sarfaraz but as soon as the partnership started gathering momentum Vaibhav Arora (3/27) changed the complexion of the game claiming the former's wicket.
Led by Arora, Himachal bowlers then fashioned a mini batting collapse as Mumbai were suddenly down to 119 for 7.
While wickets kept falling at the other end, Sarfaraz kept his calm, going about his work silently.
Ignored by national selectors time and again, Sarfaraz silenced his detractors as he showed extreme awareness and ability to execute shots.
With Mumbai needing 23 off the last 12 balls, Sarfaraz smashed two fours and a maximum of the penultimate over to tilt the match in Mumbai's favour.
In the last over, tail-ender Tanush collected two runs off the first ball while the second delivery was a dot, increasing pressure.
But Tanush dispatched a short delivery over the fence, sending the Mumbai team into frenzy and Himachal Pradesh into despair.
Last-over finish 🙌🏻
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) November 5, 2022
Solid impactful performances💥
New #SyedMushtaqAlit20 Champions 🏆
There was no shortage of action in the #HPvMUM #Final as Mumbai won the title against a gritty Himachal Pradesh 👏🏻 @mastercardindia
Match Highlights 🎥🔽https://t.co/itF68ntHyG pic.twitter.com/00k9Xi1cpe
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.