JAFFER BATTLES ISHANT AND CO, VIDARBHA KEEP DELHI DOWN

NEW DELHI: After the first day’s play in their Ranji Trophy game, senior Vidarbha batsman Wasim Jaffer was asked about his fondness for the Delhi bowling. The ex-india opener made a strokefilled 83 to save the holders the blushes, helping them reach 179 all in the first innings. Pace bowler Aditya Thakare then took 4/14 to reduce Delhi to 41/4.

It wasn’t the first time Jaffer had tamed Delhi. He has been doing this for years—at Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Sunday, and at the Wankhede Stadium and at the Jamia Millia grounds.

“You get a team against whom you enjoy and are able to score runs. I am glad as Delhi is a top quality side with a top attack. But I have been dismissed by them a few times too,” said Jaffer, who has played 31 Tests. Ishant Sharma led the Delhi attack on a green wicket and Vidarbha were soon tottering at 60-odd for 4.

Jaffer’s duel with Sharma was the key and the success the batsman had by playing his trademark strokes against the lanky pacer kept the visitors alive. Jaffer was particularly harsh on any delivery straying even a bit on the legs as he whipped a few fours off Sharma. The majority of his boundaries came off Sharma’s bowling.

Sharma, who didn’t get a wicket before lunch, returned to take the fifth wicket, bowling Akshay Wadkar through the gate. At the other end though, Jaffer was up to the challenge, leaving, defending and milking the bowling. Sharma eventually had Jaffer, bowled through the gate. Sharma also got Umesh Yadav before the Delhi batsmen returned to face the music. Delhi pace bowler Simarjeet Singh took four wickets. Thakare stuck to a tight line, extracting some movement, as he had the Delhi batsmen leg before, caught behind and bowled too.

Vidarbha 179 (W Jaffer 83, Simarjeet 4/39, Ishant 3/45) vs Delhi 41/4 (A Thakare 4/14)

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While it was a feeling of betrayal that forced Saina to move to Bengaluru, for Gopi it was a case of losing everything he had worked on for over a decade. He had lost his favourite student. Sindhu, however, benefited from this as Gopi started to invest in her, though it was a challenge for him to take her to the very top of the sport.

Sindhu, in turn, grabbed the opportunity with both hands and started doing exactly what her coach wanted her to do. While Saina always had the potential, her departure from Hyderabad worked wonders for Sindhu in that it gave her more time with Gopi. The duo soon started preparing for the 2016 Rio Games with single-minded determination.

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Saina too wasn’t to be left behind. To her credit, she became the world’s number one player within three months of moving to Bengaluru and seemed to have sorted out her game. But with time, her training in Bengaluru lost steam and she started getting injured frequently.

While trying to focus on the Rio Olympics, she was overdoing