Doseja’s unbeaten 159 the lone highlight as Delhi end Ranji season winless

Delhi’s Ranji Trophy campaign ended without a single win as their last Elite Group ‘D’ match against Mumbai finished in a draw at the MCA-BKC ground on Sunday. However, two Delhi batters emerged top run-getters after the league stage — Ayush Doseja (949 runs) and Sanat Sangwan (828). 
 
Doseja helped his team post 407-6 declared in the second essay, scoring an unbeaten 159 (11x4, 2x6), before both captains called off the game half-an hour before the tea break on the fourth and final day.

Doseja was the stand-in skipper because regular captain Ayush Badoni was picked in the India ‘A’ squad for the T20 World Cup warm-up games on the eve of the Ranji match.

“I rate this century as the biggest, because it came against Mumbai, it has always been my dream,” Doseja told reporters on Sunday. 

Doseja, who was unbeaten on 62 overnight, reached 99 with a lofted off-drive for six against off-spinner Himanshu Singh (3-86), which brought 300 on the board for the visitors. Doseja was dropped in the same over by Hardik Tamore before he took a quick single to bring up the fourth century of his maiden first-class season.

After the game, Doseja approached Mumbai Test batter Sarfaraz Khan for his advice for batting on red-soil pitches. “Sarfaraz told me that if I keep my head down while batting on the red-soil pitch, it will be better,” said Doseja, who also picked batting great Virat Kohli’s brains earlier this season.

“I have idolised him [Kohli] since childhood. So, when he played for Delhi [during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in December] I got some time to talk to him. He said, ‘If you’re going to the ground, you have to give your 200 per cent because you are representing Delhi and it’s not a small thing. If you want to play for India, you have to keep the same mindset. You shouldn’t play in survival mode. You have to dominate and play.’ I follow his fitness regime too,” said Doseja.

Mumbai, who secured three points  against Delhi, lead Group ‘D’ with 33 points and will face Karnataka in the quarters at the MCA-BKC ground, starting from February 6. Delhi returned home with no points from the fixture.

949
No. of runs scored by Ayush Doseja in the Ranji Trophy league stage

Brief scores
Delhi 221 & 407-6d (A Doseja 159*, V Kandpal 61, D Mehra 46; H Singh 3-86, O Tarmale 2-49) vs Mumbai 317 all out