JAIPUR, Nov 2 (TOI): Magic, mayhem and cricketing history were witnessed at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Monday as Hyderabad sank to the lowest Ranji Trophy total in 77 years of the tournament's existence. The team folded for just 21 runs in 15.3 overs, with Rajasthan's 18-year-old debutant, medium-pacer Deepak Chahar, steamrolling his way to an astonishing 8 wickets for 10 runs from 7.3 overs.
Statisticians rushed to rewrite the books as Hyderabad narrowly beat a record which has stood since 1934-35, the first season of the tournament, when Southern Punjab scored 22 against Northern India. Chahar, the son of an IAF sergeant from Hanumangarh, narrowly missed out on the record for a debutant, falling one wicket short of Maharashtra's Vasant Ranjane, who took 9/56 against Saurashtra back in 1956-57.
Hyderabad, once a powerful cricketing bastion which also holds the record for the highest Ranji score of 944/6 declared, fell from grace by equalling the lowest total in all first-class cricket in India: A mark stretching way back to the Bombay Quadrangular in 1915-16, when Mohammedans succumbed to Europeans.
Grabbing eight wickets as Hyderabad crashed to the lowest Ranji Trophy total was a surreal experience for Rajasthan's debutant bowler Deepak Chahar, the son of an IAF sergeant who was thankful that his father's military tenacity had rubbed off on him. "I'm out of breath at this moment. It's certainly a dream come true. I'm so happy to be able to deliver at the first opportunity I've got," an elated Chahar told TOI.
The other bowler to impress in the match was the seasoned Pankaj Singh, who grabbed the remaining two wickets and gave away 11 runs off his 8 overs. In fact, two days before this tournament opener, Pankaj, who played his first ODI for India in June this year, asked his coach who would share the new ball with him. Almost an hour before the umpires called for lunch on Monday, he would have realised Chahar was a name he would not be likely to forget.
During his frequent trips to the Hanumangarh Cricket Association as a kid, with a ball in one hand and the other grasping his father's thumb, Chahar learnt one thing: There is no substitute for hard work.
"My dad deserves all the credit for what I achieved today. He has been my mentor, doing crazy things for me, just to see me make it big some day," said Chahar, who was born in Agra.
His Rajasthan coach Amit Asawa said, "He has decent pace and the accuracy to go with it. He knows how to mix it up nicely." Asawa went so far as to say, "He could be a future star for Team India. I have never seen someone with so much talent."
Chahar's childhood coach Navendu Tyagi, a fast bowling specialist at the Zila Cricket Academy in Jaipur, said: "He promised me once that he'll take five on debut."