Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Some players in domestic cricket tend to raise their game when playing a top team like Mumbai. Divij Mehra is one of them. In Jan 2023, at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in the capital, the 23-year-old fast bowler, moving the ball around menacingly at military medium-pace, bowled a devastating spell of five for 30 in 13 overs in the second innings to fashion Delhi’s eight-wicket win over Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. It was the first time that Delhi had beaten Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in more than four decades. Amongst Mehra’s victims during his maiden five-wicket haul that time were domestic run-machine Sarfaraz Khan, Prithvi Shaw, who smashed a triple hundred against Assam in the same same 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, Musheer Khan, Armaan Jaffer and Mohit Avasthi.
Three years later, Mehra, with his career wrecked by injuries in between, took just his second five wicket-haul in first-class cricket, and that too came against Mumbai, triggering his side’s superb fight back. On Saturday, Mehra, bowling his heart out, took five for 64 in 31 overs to restrict Mumbai to 317 on Day Three of their last Ranji Trophy league match. Injuries have meant that Mehra was playing just his second Ranji match this season. “I was injured for the last few years after taking that five-for against Mumbai, so it felt very good to have contributed. I had struck a good rhythm in my last match against Chhattisgarh, and was just looking to stick to my strengths,” Mehra told reporters after the day’s play. A couple of years back, a heel injury robbed of a chance to play in the IPL for Punjab Kings. “I had a spur in my heel my (landing foot), so I had to get that bone removed. I was in the Punjab Kings camp, but due to the injury, I couldn’t play a single match. I spent the next 1.5 years recovering from that injury. After that, I played a match against Madhya Pradesh, but hurt my hip flexor. So, my next two seasons went on the sidelines only, recovering from injuries. I was feeling very bad sitting at home. If I had played in those two seasons, I would’ve been somewhere else,” Mehra rued. The young pacer has benefited a lot from the advice he received recently from India and Delhi’s veteran pacer Ishant Sharma.“I spent a lot of time with Ishant (Sharma) bhaiya in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has helped in setting my routine and the areas I have to work on before the next season. He has told me about the kind of training I have to go through and what my schedule should be like as a fast bowler,” Mehra said. Both Ishant and India’s Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who led Delhi for a few matches this season, passed on some useful tips to the fast bowler. Not mincing his words, Ishant even told the youngster that he needed to pull up his socks in order to be a better bowler in white-ball cricket. “They both spoke with me in detail and told me that whatever I am doing is not enough in white-ball cricket. There are a lot of areas to work upon. Ishant bhaiya spoke with me sternly after one match ki dekh bhai itne se nahi chalega (this isn’t enough). He made me realise things which I was not able to do by myself. Rishabh bhaiya said that I bowl in right areas but I will have to work on my pace and variation,” Mehra said.Soon after taking Avasthi’s wicket to complete his five-for, an emotional-looking Mehra thumped the BKC turf, looking overcome with emotions. “I became a bit emotional, because before this season began, I had told my father that ‘We are playing against Mumbai again. I will try to repeat that (five-wicket haul) feat. For the whole season, I was trying to make a comeback into the Delhi team, and played all the matches of the Delhi Under-23 team. With our senior players away, I got an opportunity to play in the last two matches. So, it felt good to contribute,” Mehra said. “After making a comeback this year, I’m feeling better. My target was to play all the matches this season, and I’ve done that,” he added.“It’s special to take a five-for against Mumbai in Mumbai. Even if my next five-wicket haul comes against Mumbai, I’ll be very happy, because it’s a big team. The way it plays as a team, for each other is something that our inexperienced team can learn from. All of Mumbai’s batters are good. On another day, they could have hammered me. The wicket was helping me in the morning and evening,” Mehra concluded.
