Ranji Trophy: Abin Matthew’s burst leaves Delhi in trouble
Till the age of 18, Abin Matthew was a reluctant cricketer. He played club cricket in Kochi, and by his own admission, he used to get picked just as an extra, who would carry drinks.
Abin’s father, Mathai Matthew, was a daily wage labourer, while his mother, Daisy Matthew, a lab technician, had a conversation with him about his future, which forced him to decide what he wanted to do in life.
“I was never good at cricket. It was just for fun. I was just a squad player. After I turned 18, there was pressure from the family because of the financial duress. I casually told my parents ‘okay I will play cricket.’ Father was a bit upset, but he said, ‘Fine, play the game like your life depends on it,’” Matthew told The Indian news.
“I gave a try out at the Swanton Cricket Club, where former India pacer Tinu Yohannan has also played. My coach Tiju Francis was the first one who told me that I can be a good pacer. I had pace but I was always erratic. He worked on with me, and in a couple of years, I was playing for Kerala U-23,” recalls Matthew.
Cut to the present, Matthew’s 4/30 has left Delhi reeling in their second innings. The hosts are 126/8 with a lead of 30 runs, and Pondicherry are on the cusp of registering an outright win. Pondicherry, in their first innings, were bowled out for 244 runs with a healthy first innings lead of 96 runs.
Matthew bowled his heart out in the first innings but got unlucky as a couple of catches were put down from his bowling. The edges were not carried, but he kept it tight, and his economy was 1.65 after bowling 17 overs. He kept the pressure from one end and Gaurav Yadav reaped the rewards from the other end.
In Delhi’s second innings, the table turned. Abin came as a first change and ran and picked Delhi’s captain Yash Dhull in his second over. But it was his second spell burst which provided the sucker punch to Delhi. Matthew picked up the wickets of Lakshya Thareja, Himmat Singh and Kshitiz Sharma as Delhi lost five wickets for 14 runs.
“The moment we saw the pitch, we realised that it can be tricky, if we won’t control our line. Plan was to make them play more and it worked. As a bowling unit, everything that we had chalked out has worked out perfectly,” he says.
Although Matthew is not from Pondicherry, he is one of the homegrown talents of the new association. He moved to Pondicherry in 2019 and had to wait for two years as there were a few errors in his documents.
“The association showed their trust in me. Those two years, I was not part of the team because of an error in my residential documents, but I was part of all the camps. It was a difficult time as I had left Kerala because I was not getting opportunities and now this happened. During that time, my mother kept pushing me. If not for her I would have given up and had gone back to Kochi,” says Matthew.
Now, the 26-year-old has put Pondicherry on the cusp of victory, and he wants to wrap it up early so that he can go for some sightseeing.
“We would love to finish it early and take all seven points. Hopefully, I’ll be able to visit some of the historical places in Delhi,” he laughs.
All talk no substance
As Yash Dhull went for a flashy drive in the very first ball he faced, a DDCA official, who had worked at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium for the past 44 years, left his chair in disbelief, calling the current team a “worst bunch.”
Dhull’s flashy knock was short-lived. Thareja, a makeshift opener, who has played all his cricket in the age-group at No 6, looked all at sea. The leave from Himmat Singh, the most experienced cricketer in the current setup was baffling. He shouldered his arms and was bowled by a straight ball.
If Yash Dhull’s shot left the DDCA official fuming, the Ayush Badoni dismissal forced him to put his hands on his face. The Delhi’s vice-captain threw away his wicket.
Hrithik Shokeen played 28 balls and connected two — one six and one four — rest of them were either misses or edges. Shokeen also got into an unnecessary argument with the Pondicherry bowler Saurabh Yadav, and umpires had to separate both the players. Gaurav Yadav ended Shokeen’s adventure at the crease.
Brief Scores: Delhi 148 & 126/8 (Abin Matthew 4/30, Gourav Yadav 2/39, Saurabh Yadav 2/43) vs Pondicherry 244 all out (Paras Ratnaparkhe 60; Krishna Pandey 44; Hritik Shokeen 4/46, Himanshu Chauhan 3/60)
