Ranji: Aditya Tare suggests early preparation after Mumbai draw with MP

Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare keeps wickets as MP centurion Aditya Shrivastava cuts at Wankhede on Saturday. Pid/ Suresh Karkera

Mumbai had to be satisfied with three points against Madhya Pradesh after the hosts failed to register an outright win despite producing a dominating show in their final Ranji Trophy Group 'B' league match at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts started Day Four needing eight wickets to win the match with MP chasing a 408-run target. With another 364 runs required on Saturday, the visitors batted patiently, scoring 314 for six at stumps to deprive Mumbai from registering a consolation win.

Mumbai, who finished on 17 points in eight matches, failed to make it to the Ranji knockout stage for the second consecutive season. Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare suggested they start preparing for the next season straight away. "Everything is fresh right now. We know how the season has gone. The players and management need to sit down and understand which are the areas we need to improve," he said.

Bhopal-born Aditya Shrivastava (130 not out, 13x4, 2x6) stitched two 100-plus partnerships - 120 runs with Vyankatesh Iyer (59) for the fourth wicket and an unbeaten 131-run stand with Mihir Hirwani (69 not out, 11x4, 2x6) for the seventh wicket - to take the match away from Tare & Co.

Saturday's ton was Shrivastava's second consecutive one of the season, having scored 192 against Karnataka last week.

Mumbai needed four more wickets to win in the third session with MP 251-6 at tea. But Shrivastava and Hirwani countered Mumbai attack well without losing any wickets. Pacers Royston Dias and Deepak Shetty claimed two wickets each for the hosts.

Brief scores

Mumbai 427 & 238-5d drew with Madhya Pradesh 258 & 314-6 (A Shrivastava 130',
M Hirwani 69', V Iyer 59; D Shetty 2-46, R Dias 2-61)

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