While Gujarat held the upper-hand for the first two days of the Irani Cup match, Rest of India have kept themselves in the reckoning with a more disciplined performance on Day 3. Although they conceded a 132-run lead, the Pankaj Singh-led attack kept the Gujarat lineup in check in their second outing.

The medium pacers – Pankaj, Md Siraj and Siddharth Kaul - kept the batsmen on a tight leash. While they claimed four wickets between them, Shahbaz Nadeem picked four for 53 with Gujarat on 227 for eight at the end of day’s play. Reflecting on the day’s play, Nadeem said, “The kind of start that our fast bowlers gave us in the first 20-25 overs has put us in decent position. Their efforts early on has resulted in the eight wickets. They built the pressure which gave us the wickets later.” Asked about their plans, he replied, “There was no plan as such for restricting them to a certain total. Some of their boys like Chirag (Gandhi) bat positively so the plan was that if we can curb them, then after a point, there could be an opportunity for a wicket.” Speaking about his own efforts and the use of variations like the arm-ball, he said, “In the first innings, my effort was more towards containing the batsmen. Now there is a bit of help in the pitch too whereas there was nothing much in it during the first innings. If you use some variations on this wicket only then will you get some help. You have to vary a bit if you want to take wickets. “I was bowling a bit slow because I knew that even if I conceded a few more runs, there are better chances of getting a wicket. So, I was trying to vary the flight and the trajectory of the ball,” he added. Discussing his bowling further, the highest wicket-taker of the season said, “I probably should have used variations in the first innings as well which I didn’t. (But) It was also about keeping the flow of runs in check. So, the plan was to bowl in one area and contain the runs. I did what I felt was necessary to do now. If I attack, I am a better bowler because my game is like that. I am not a defensive bowler. I realised that. I spoke to people back home - my father and my brother who know me well and they too guided me.” Reflecting on the status of the match, he said, “The match is wide open. Rest of India were in a similar situation last year (2016) and we had chased 480 runs. Now their lead is 359 so we will try to keep them to 400 odd. There are still two days to go and our batting lineup is strong. We collapsed in the first innings, it happens but we have a very good batting side and it will be a good game.”