To further aggravate Baroda's wounds, Mumbai's no. 10 and no. 11 batsmen set new records by hitting hundreds on a day when the entire focus was on Mumbai finishing the necessary paperwork to guarantee a position in the Ranji Trophy semi final.
Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande became just the second batters in First-Class history to register tons in the same innings on the last day at the MCA-BKC ground. Kotian and Deshpande are ranked 10 and 11 respectively. One run separated them from holding the record for the most stand for the final wicket in the Ranji Trophy with their 232 for the tenth wicket.
Mumbai had begun the day with a score of 379 for 9, with Deshpande and Kotian at 32 and 23, respectively. Baroda would have liked to have a bat before too long, but that was not to be. They were already nearly out of it, trailing by 415. The final pair followed the fundamentals correctly, rewarding the excellent balls and punishing the mistakes. Later, Kotian said that he was discussing bowler selection with Deshpande, who started his career as a batsman.
In any case, finding a partner was simple. The strategy was to defend and then charge them when they raise the field. We acknowledged the good balls and waited for the proper ones. After the performance for the day, Kotian remarked, "We kept talking to each other and kept communicating till we reached our hundreds."
According to Deshpande, the two never considered the records they could alter. "We learned about approaching the record for the largest 10th-wicket partnership much later in the innings." We were playing it ball by ball, not thinking about it. It was a good pitch for batting. I can become an all-round player, my father often says, and I can score runs if I put in the work and use a straight bat," he continues.
Kotian has already crossed off the century after failing to do so twice in the 1990's.
"Because of the scheduling, I had 10 fifties prior to this game, so it was a critical innings for me. I kept telling myself, "I have to do it," or "ke karna hai yeh ab." Tushar and I were discussing potential bowlers to target. I've known since I was a junior that I can bat in any circumstance," he said.
In 115 balls, Kotian scored his first century and was still unbeaten at 120. Despande scored 123 off 129 balls in his innings, including 10 fours and 4 sixes, before he was caught in the deep. He hit eight sixes and ten fours over his innings.
Brief Scores: Baroda 348 & 121 for 3 (P Moliya 54) and Mumbai 384 & 569 (Tanush Kotian 120 not out, Tushar Deshpande 123; Bhargav Bhatt 7 for 200) drew.
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