Delhi cricket hit a new low on Tuesday as a spirited Jammu and Kashmir side, powered by opener Qamran Iqbal’s superb century, crushed them by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium — marking J&K’s first-ever Ranji Trophy win over the formidable hosts.
With just four points from three home games, Delhi, coached by Sarandeep Singh, is sixth out of eight teams in group D after four games with seven points. It will take a miracle to advance to the knockout stages.
The team’s downfall has been caused by dubious choices, ineffective tactics, a lack of streetwise leadership, and a state unit whose teams have suffered from infighting and factionalism.
The seven-time champions have won 37 of the 43 meetings between Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir since 1960.
With opener Iqbal (133 not out off 147 balls) and nightwatchman Vanshaj Sharma (8 off 55 balls) at the crease, J&K needed 124 runs on the last day to chase a target of 179 for victory.
Iqbal decided to use his long levers and large stride to neutralize any spin off the surface, so what appeared to be a challenging pitch suddenly didn’t cause any issues.
Delhi’s spinners, Mannan Bhardwaj and Hrithik Shokeen, did not target the stumps as much because of the roughs and indents that were made on both sides of the track. They also tried to bowl too quickly, which did not result in any purchase.
Iqbal was hitting lofted boundaries and one-handed slog sweep sixes toward the end. With a century in the first innings, even 40-year-old captain Paras Dogra, the former cricket doyen of Himachal Pradesh, contributed his bit. In his 22nd first-class season, Dogra — second only to Mumbai stalwart Wasim Jaffer in Ranji Trophy runs — has scored centuries against both Mumbai and Delhi this year.
Due to purported pressure from a powerful DDCA lobby, Delhi’s decision to retain Sarandeep as head coach notwithstanding a terrible previous season has only made selection inconsistent. No domestic cricket side is in awe of captain Ayush Badoni, despite his impressive half-centuries.
Arpit Rana, one of the top scorers in the DPL, has struggled against quality seam bowling, with Auqib Nabi’s movement exposing flaws in his technique. Meanwhile, aggressive opener Priyansh Arya was benched for the first two matches and later played out of position at No. 4.
Even worse, Anuj Rawat, a player with an average of less than 30 over eight seasons, continues to play despite having two excellent keeper batters on the bench in Tejasvi Dahiya and Pranav Raghuvanshi.
Rohan Jaitley, the president of the DDCA, is anticipated to step up after this setback.
