Delhi's road to Ranji finals, Manan Sharma speaks about the season

For a club with a rich heritage and an establishment which has given Indian cricket a plethora of match-winners, Delhi cricket has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past couple of years.

From charges of corruption to tiffs within the team, the DDCA has managed to slog through a lot of dirt, until now.

In some sort of a redemption story, Delhi, one of the pinnacles of Indian cricket has stuttered, stumbled, marched, sprawled, and finally roared into the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2017/18.

A bunch of free-spirited youngsters, ably shepherded by a few wise man, Delhi smashed Bengal by an innings and 26 runs in Pune to reach this stage after 10 years.

One of the key cogs of this well-oiled machinery, left-arm spinning all-rounder Manan Sharma spoke to Sportskeeda about the season, about the ups and downs and about the belief making waves in their camp.

Your spell on the very first day of the semi-final in many ways changed the complexion of the match, what was the plan?

Bengal won the toss and batted first, a decision which confused us as there was a bit of moisture on the wicket. We also managed to get an early breakthrough (Abhimanyu Easwaran).

After a couple of wickets, Sudeep and Manoj (Tiwary) were playing together and they were looking fairly settled. Last time also, Sudeep scored a century against us and we were very aware of this.

When I came into the attack, Manoj decided to attack me and ended up miscuing the shot. This was a big breakthrough for us and then luckily Sudeep who was batting on 80 odd (83) slapped one shortish ball to cover. It was not a good ball, but I was not complaining at all and yes, this gave us a lot of momentum.

Despite the wicket, Bengal never really got going even after the moisture dried up, was there a specific plan?

Yes, we had a concerted plan to not give away easy runs, we wanted to dry up the runs and put them under pressure for if the scoreboard is not moving, players tend to do things out of their comfort zone and this worked for us.

Hence, when we got rid of Tiwary and Sudeep, things became relatively easier for us since they have a fairly long tail.

Once the moisture disappeared, the track became a batting beauty and to dismiss them for 286 was a tremendous effort on the part of the bowlers.

Personally, as a player, how has this season been for you?

I had a decent start to this season, as I managed to score 60 odd runs (69) against Assam in the first match. Also, I picked up three wickets, so yes the start was indeed very promising.

In our second game against Railways, I scored my maiden first-class century, this season has been special for me as a player.

But yes, there were a couple of bad games for me along the way, but then these things happen, I spoke to myself and remained positive.

Like, even in this game (semis), apart from all the bowling and batting, I inflicted a run-out and then scored 34 runs which helped us get the lead.

Not really satisfied, but yes, this has been a good season for me.

What has clicked for Delhi this season?

Without a doubt the fitness levels in the squad, which has increased almost exponentially. Before this season, we had a fitness camp and that has changed our outlook completely.

The trainer Nishant, really pushed us hard and we can see the difference and this is perhaps the greatest change this season.

And then the collective effort of the team. We just cannot depend on a couple of players to bail us out, if they tank, the team goes down also.

Hence, the way the workload was shared amongst all of us was a big plus for the team. The runs have been shared among the batsmen and the wickets have been taken almost uniformly by all the bowlers.

Manoj Tiwary’s comments about the 2015 fixture have been doing the rounds, did those statement fire up the team?

Our coach, KP Bhaskar sat us down and told us that Tiwary has said certain things which really should not have been brought up. Yes, it pinched us, but then it really motivated us to give it all on the field.

We did not want to reciprocate with words because we knew we were a better side and now that the result is out the world also knows which side is the winner.

What are your strengths as a left-arm spinner?

The way I bowl depends on the pitch and back myself to adapt according to the conditions.

Like on this wicket in Pune, which was a flat track, the idea was to bowl wicket-to-wicket and keep things tight as there was no assistance for the spinners.

Stop the runs and irritate the batsmen and force them to make the play and this is where I came out triumphs.

You faced Shami on the third morning and he was at his imperious best, what was your reaction?

I was facing him for the first time in my career and it was, by far, the fastest spell of fast bowling I have ever encountered.

Before the day’s play, we had a talk that we need to see off the new ball as both Ashoke Dinda and Mohammed Shami are Bengal’s strength.

But Shami plays for India and he showed us why, he was brilliant, he was fast, the ball was swinging, he was simply outstanding. He got rid of Nitish Rana and Rishabh Pant and then I went in.

He came flat out and ramped up the pressure. I managed to score 34, got a few boundaries and we got the lead, but yes, his spell was superb.

Let’s speak about captaincy now, Ishant was the skipper when the season started and then Rishabh Pant took over, how was the transition and how do these blokes differ?

The thing is that I have played with Ishant, we played Under-19 together. When he is on the team, he is obviously the rock for us in the bowling department. As a captain, he never allowed the game to drift, never gave any liberties to the opponents.

Pant might be young, but he was the captain last year too during the limited overs tournament and he has played many India A games and the IPL, so he is quite experienced.

As such, there is no real difference we felt as a side under Ishant or Pant.

What has been the role of Gautam Gambhir this season?

Yeah, like I said, despite the change in captains, we never felt anything different primarily because of Gautam Gambhir.

Pant always speaks to Gautam bhaiya whenever he wants any advice and the amount of experience he has is unparalleled, his influence on this team is huge.

The rock for Delhi

Last year, there were differences between coach Bhaskar and Gambhir, is there any tiff even now?

Whatever happened last season is now behind us, it has been forgotten. If you are a team you have to be together.

This season everyone is together, and everyone is doing their jobs and this is why we are successful.

We trust each other, and this is bound to happen since we are successful, we have qualified for the final after 10 years, so there is a lot of positivity in the group.

Winning is a habit and we have to cultivate this habit as a team and yes, we are very close now.

Speaking about Gautam bhaiya, he has always been open to suggestions whether he is the captain or not. Irrespective of the seniority, he made sure that people speak and if anyone has suggestions they are vocal about it.

He is always there, speaks with the batsmen, speaks with the bowlers, passes on the advice to the captains as to the type of fields to be set.

Expectations from the upcoming IPL auction?

Look, it is very simple to be honest if you perform you will be picked.

We are now in the finals, people will watch us and this is where you need to put in your best foot forward.

Honestly, I am hoping for a bid because I have had a decent tournament so yes, let’s see what happens.