Srinagar, Oct 4: Jammu and Kashmir skipper Paras Dogra termed the team’s 167-run defeat against Rest of India in the Irani Cup as a “good learning” experience, saying his side had shown enough belief and fighting spirit against a team featuring several current India players.
Rest of India bowled J&K out for 111 on the fourth day to clinch the Irani Cup, but Dogra said the hosts had competed strongly for large periods of the match and should take confidence from the experience into the upcoming Ranji Trophy campaign.
“I am really happy that the Jammu and Kashmir team fought really well against the Rest of India team, in which you can see there are seven-eight current India players,” Dogra said after the match while speaking to Greater Kashmir.
“I think it is a very good sign. We were there till the last moment. It is a good learning process for us.”
J&K had taken a 41-run first-innings lead after bowling Rest of India out for 237, but the visitors recovered to set the hosts a target of 279. J&K were then dismissed for 111 as Mukesh Kumar claimed six wickets.
Dogra acknowledged that against a quality side, mistakes can prove costly.
“If you compare it to such a big league, with small mistakes, you lose the match,” he said. “We will try to improve these things.”
Dogra also dismissed the suggestion that J&K lost the match solely because of the 113-run partnership between Ravichandran Smaran and Mukesh Choudhary in Rest of India’s second innings.
“To be honest, not really,” he said. “We bowled exceptionally well, that is why we were able to bundle them out for around 300. If we hadn’t done that, it would have been too long.”
He said the target of 279 itself placed pressure on J&K in the final stages.
Dogra said the biggest positive was that J&K did not lose belief despite facing a Rest of India side packed with international experience.
“It wasn’t like we gave up,” he said. “When a big team comes in, people get upset thinking, ‘How will we win.’ But I think we were there till the last moment.”
“Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down. But I think we were there and we were trying our heart out,” he said.
With the Ranji Trophy campaign approaching, Dogra said J&K would keep their approach simple rather than put unnecessary pressure on themselves.
“We keep it as simple as possible. If we come here, we will play to win. We will play game by game,” he said.
J&K are set to open their Ranji Trophy campaign against Madhya Pradesh, with Dogra expecting a tough contest.
“The first game against MP is going to be tough,” he said. “Let us see. Auqib will be there, hopefully. So it will be a good boost for us as well.”
On the possibility of Umran Malik returning to the Ranji setup, Dogra said the decision rests with the selectors.
