Himachal Pradesh’s Shubham Arora played an exceptional knock of 136* against Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final in Jaipur on Sunday. Himachal Pradesh created history as they clinched the title with a brilliant win by 11 runs (VJD Method) while chasing a mammoth 315 in 50 overs.
Talking about his knock and the planning while chasing the big score, Arora said that to the batsmen was that they have to play 50 overs.
“We were told that we need to keep wickets in hand and try to play out the entire 50 overs,” he said while talking to The Indian Express.
“My duty was to try and not get out especially during the play-off. A good start is always needed while chasing a big score.”
“All these years I always wanted to play an innings like this on a big stage. Thankfully it came today and we won. Winning a title is always a special feeling and it took some time for the feeling to sink. To understand what we had just achieved,” Arora said.
Tamil Nadu had rode on Dinesh Karthik’s ton to put 314 on the board before getting bundled out. Apart from Karthik, Baba Indrajith struck a fifty while Shahrukh Khan chipped in with a brisk 21-ball 42.
In reply, Himachal Pradesh had a decent start to the chase but lost the way in the middle before Shubham and Amit Kumar steadied the ship and stitched a stand of 148 runs for the fourth wicket. Kaur scored 74 off 79.
Later, Shubham was joined by captain Rishi Dhawan who unleashed a terrific knock of 42* off 23 as Himachal Pradesh stood on the winning podium.