Patient More reaps rich reward

Ronit More’s endless energy is a big plus for a captain. During the fag end of the second day’s play of the Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Friday, the tired shoulders of the Karnataka fielders weren’t hard to miss. But More had enough fire left in him to script a turnaround.

The right-hander bagged three quick wickets to shake Saurashtra. His fourth five-wicket haul (5/54) of the season reduced the visitors to 227/7 at the end of day’s play.

“After the drinks break, when I got the ball, Manish and I discussed for a short while. We just had a plan to try and keep it tight for a few overs and then see what happens because we were leaking runs. That plan worked for us,” said More, who now has taken 35 wickets in this season to be Karnataka’s highest wicket-taker.

More was the most disciplined of the three-pronged pace attack of Karnataka. Up against a batsman of Cheteshwar Pujara’s stature, the right-arm medium pacer was fiercely focused on his job. “He (Pujara) is the main batsman of their team. We had a plan that if we get him out early, it will shake them (Saurashtra) as they are very dependent on him. So Mithun and I were talking about keeping it on the fourth stump. We were very close to getting him out cheaply but were unlucky in the end,” More offered.

The 26-year-old, who was in the shadows of the senior pace trio of R Vinay Kumar, Mithun and S Arvind till last season, has finally earned a permanent spot in the side through his dream run this year. More credited the seniors for being his strong support system.

“Arvind, Mithun and Vinay have been of great help to me. They constantly keep motivating me all the time in the ‘nets’. Today, Vinay told me to have patience. He told me that irrespective of who the batsman is, patience will decide who will succeed. Before this season, I hardly played 10 Ranji games. But now I have got a clear idea of what lengths to bowl at this level,” he explained.