18-year-old star Musheer Khan has rescued Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy Quarterfinals with a stunning century against Baroda. With Mumbai reeling at 99/4 without some of the key players like Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube, Musheer had a daunting task ahead of him.
He dug his eyes in and played a valiant knock to take Mumbai to a handsome total of 384. Musheer, who was aggressive with the bat in the U19 World Cup 2024, played a completely sedate knock and scored 203 from 357 balls including 18 fours without a six.
The 18-year-old, playing in his only 4th first-class match, slammed a hundred on the opening day of the match and converted it into a big knock on day 2. There was patience all around in his knock.
On day 1 with wickets falling all around, Musheer finally found support from wicketkeeper batter Hardik Tamore. The two carried the team brilliantly, stitching an 181-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Musheer scored 117 from 195 balls in this stand, while Hardik made 57 from 248 deliveries to bring the Rahane-led outfit back on track.
Notably, after his ton on day 1 of the game, Musheer opened up on his innings. He came into this game on the back of a superb U19 World Cup, where he was the second-highest run-scorer. But in reb-ball cricket, he had a different gear.
"Taiyyari to Abbu har baar red ball ki hi karwate hain (Our father has always prepared us for the red ball)" Musheer said after the end of day 1. "We keep preparing with that and after returning from the Under-19 World Cup I had a few sessions with the red ball. So I was prepared for this," he added. His father Naushad hugged him at the end of the first day's play.
