Among Himanshu Sangwan’s scalps were Test batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw. Among Himanshu Sangwan’s scalps were Test batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw.

Mumbai ran out of steam and Railways registered their first-ever outright win over the 41-times Ranji Trophy champions. The day’s hero was pacer Himanshu Sangwan, a 24-year-old ticket collector presently posted at the New Delhi Railway Station. It was his decisive second innings spell of 5/60 that went a long way in embarrassing the star-studded Mumbai team in their own backyard, the storied Wankhede Stadium.

After Mumbai were all out for 198, Railways raced passed the winning target of 47 runs without losing a wicket. A 10-wicket win against Mumbai wasn’t expected of a team that had lost by an innings to Saurashtra in the last round.

As for Sangwan, he wouldn’t be forgetting this game in a hurry. After getting the wickets of India’s bright young batsmen Prithvi Shaw and Siddhesh Lad on Thursday, he added three more to this tally today. Among his Day 3 scalps was the prized wicket of India’s frontline Test batsman Ajinkya Rahane.

The day had started with Mumbai resuming at 64/3. With skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Rahane walking out to bat, the home team were very much in the game. But in the second over of the day, Railways nosed ahead. Rahane nicked a Sangwan delivery behind the stumps and Railways had a whiff of victory.

Suryakumar and Aditya Tare would add 64 runs for the fifth wicket before the Railway seamers T Pradeep struck. He had Tare caught behind for 14. This was followed by another crucial blow by the visitors — this time by Railways skipper Karn Sharma. The one-time India leggie had Yadav bowled. Mumbai never recovered from the loss of Rahane and Yadav and the team couldn’t cross 200.

Posted at the New Delhi station, Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan scalps five to help team record 10-wicket win Posted at the New Delhi station, Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan scalps five to help team record 10-wicket win

Attacking the stumps

Sangwan later revealed his team’s game plan was to bowl stump-to-stump. They banked on the Mumbai batsmen to play their stroke and make mistakes. The Wankhede green top helped the pacers all day long and this made things difficult for the Mumbai batsmen.

Talking about his early days, Sangwan said that he started pursuing serious cricket after watching the Virat Kohli side win the under-19 World Cup in 2008. What caught the young boy’s eye was the pacer with him he shared a second name — Pradeep Sangwan. Like the Delhi left-arm pacer, he too wanted to run in fast and bowl pace.

He was so driven that he shifted base to Najafgarh, a Delhi suburb made famous by India great Virendra Sehwag. It was also the place that Pradeep Sangwan called home.

“I had this reassuring thought that if Pradeep Sangwan can make it to the Indian team why can’t Himanshu Sangwan. Somehow I felt that I needed to be in Najafgarh to make it big. I rented a house there and till date I stayed there. The house owner is like my family now. I met Sangwan and he told me that I had it in me to play top grade cricket,” says Sangwan, whose family is from Rajasthan.

Hours after the game, Sangwan couldn’t stop talking about the Rahane wicket. “I bowled an off-stump line, hoping he will drive. The morning condition helps pacer at Wankhede and I was lucky that I got his wicket,” he recalled.

Railways was Sangwan’s first-choice team. After playing for Delhi Under-19 team, Sangwan didn’t get the big break to play first class cricket. So he switched to Railways. After creditable showing for Railways U-23 team — he was the highest wicket-taker — he was picked for the Ranji team.

Before he hangs up, Sangwan shares another man who has been an inspiration for him. “I have seen that MS Dhoni movie. That shows that even a Railways TC can make it big in cricket. If he can, why can’t I?” he says.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 114 & 198 (Suryakumar Yadav 65, Akash Parkar 35 not out; H Sangwan 5 for 60) lost to Railways 266 & 47 (Mrunal Devdhar 27 not out).

Result: Railways 7 points, Mumbai 0.

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