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'No room for disappointment' for Mumbai's Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande after record tons
It is rare for a pair involving numbers 10 and 11 to be hitting first-class tons and rarer to have them adding 200 or more runs for the 10th wicket, yet fall agonisingly close to breaking a record.
But for Mumbai's Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande, who hit their maiden tons and put on a stunning 232-run stand for the last wicket, there was no disappointment in missing out on the record in Ranji Trophy by just one run during their quarterfinal against Baroda.
Kotian (120 not out) and Deshpande (123) pulverised the Baroda attack to enter record books here at the BKC Ground on Tuesday, but they narrowly missed overhauling the highest 10th-wicket stand between Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh of 233 runs, for Delhi against Mumbai in the 1991-92 season.
"I am happy; I was unbeaten. I had told Tushar that only 1-2 runs are left, he took a chance but we felt we had done something (in terms of records) at Nos 10 and 11," Kotian told PTI in an exclusive chat, sounding totally content with what they had done on the field.
The pair got together on fourth evening with Mumbai already ahead by 373 runs and by the time Kotian and Deshpande were separated with the latter being dismissed, the lead had swollen to 605 runs overall.
Deshpande fell to Baroda bowler Ninad Rathva attempting a six after he had just hit one, but there was no disappointment in either of them.
"I did not say anything to him (to Tushar) for those 1-2 runs, whatever we did was good. We had actually opened up after getting to 100s and after he hit one for a six, he went for a shot again but got a top edge which resulted in a catch at deep midwicket," Kotian recalled.
Kotian said the aim was to out-bat Baroda from the contest.
"The plan was to focus on every ball and take it one over at a time," he said.
"We wanted to bring up our respective fifties and once we achieved that, we wanted to punish the loose balls and respect the good ones, and we were anyway rotating the strike well."
"I was constantly talking with Tushar in terms of which ball to choose to hit and he contributed a lot given the number of sixes he hit," Kotian added.
Deshpande, who is also an established member of the champion IPL side Chennai Super Kings, expressed his happiness to have gone big with the bat.
"Feeling very satisfied with the knock because I was batting at No 11 and I was able to do this. I always wanted to prove that I can bat, my father always believed that I can be a very good all-rounder and this innings is for him," he said.
"I can hit big, I have played a lot of rubber-ball cricket and I used to hit big from the U-14 days," Deshpande added.
Deshpande said he had no grudges over his dismissal, adding that he would perhaps do the same thing — attack — if there is another such opportunity.
"The only thing that I had in mind was to play as per the merit of the ball. The ball before (his dismissal) I hit for a six and (on) the ball that I got out, it did not go my way but no grudges that we could not complete the record… another day I might get an opportunity and I will try to do that," Deshpande said.
Kotian, who has learned a lot of his cricket at his father's academy in Vikhroli area of Mumbai, said the pair was aware of the fact that they were on the cusp of creating history.
"We had no idea in the middle but we got a message that we were 11 runs short from breaking the record," he said.
But for now, like his partner Deshpande, Kotian was extremely satisfied to have cracked his maiden ton.
"I had got 10 fifties in Ranji but I was waiting for that first hundred and today I got it," an elated Kotian said.
For obvious reasons, Deshpande's confidence was sky high given that the Mumbai seamer will be linking up with MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings very soon.
"It does bring a lot of confidence because this is the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy and winning this for the team is very satisfying," he said.
"With less than one month to go for the IPL, it feels really good and this kind of performance is a sign that I am in a good rhythm and in a good frame of mind," Deshpande added.