Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu's response to Haryana's 348 with his 15th first class century on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B' match here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
The left-handed opener remained unbeaten on 110 (176b, 12x4, 1x6) after nearly four hours of batting, as Tamil Nadu finished Friday on 169 for one. On a pitch that was difficult for both stroke-making and wicket-taking, the 21-year-old Abhinav's determination and run-hunger separated the sides.
Tamil Nadu's openers put on 84 before M. Vijay (33) was caught at silly-point off Amit Mishra's leg-spin. Mishra, who had earlier made an undefeated 71 at number eight, sought to exploit the nerves debutant M. Kaushik Gandhi must surely have experienced.
Good control
But Kaushik Gandhi hung on to support Abhinav, who progressed to his second century in as many first class innings (he had made 154 in the Irani Trophy in October). He worked the ball to vacant spaces, and, after passing 60, brought out the reverse-sweep. Such was Abhinav's control against the leg-spin of Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal that Haryana asked wicketkeeper Nitin Saini to bowl some off-spin.
“It was a difficult wicket to time the ball against the medium-pacers because it was slow and low,” said Abhinav after the end of play. “There was turn for the spinners, but it was slow turn. I had to really concentrate hard.”
Asked about the experience of returning to domestic cricket after a period with the Indian team, Abhinav said, “It has been difficult. But I've always said I don't want to talk about selection. I just want to make runs.
“The exposure to international cricket has made me a better player.
“Batting here definitely helps me progress. But (it's) one step at a time — we first have to take the lead in this match.”
The scores:Haryana — 1st innings: N. Saini b Balaji 43, R. Dewan c Prasanna b Sunny Gupta 22, A. Khod lbw Sunny Gupta 14, M. Sharma b Balaji 3, S. Rana c & b Balaji 2, P. Tehlan c Prasanna b Aushik Srinivas 95, P. Pawar st Dinesh Karthik b Aushik Srinivas 23, A. Mishra (not out) 71, D. Singh c Vasudevadas b Yomahesh 29, A. Vashisht c Kaushik Gandhi b Aushik Srinivas 4, Y. Chahal lbw b Sunny Gupta 8; Extras (b-14, lb-7, nb-11, w-2): 34. Total (in 119.3 overs): 348.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-83, 3-88, 4-89, 5-90, 6-171, 7-237, 8-311, 9-323, 10-348.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Balaji 18-2-46-3, Yomahesh 17-4-48-1, Aushik Srinivas 36-7-88-3, Sunny Gupta 25.3-6-68-3, Aparajith 19-4-65-0, Kaushik Gandhi 4-1-12-0.
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Abhinav Mukund (batting) 110, M. Vijay c Tehlan b Mishra 33, M. Kaushik Gandhi (batting) 12; Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-6): 14. Total (for one wkt. in 58 overs): 169.
Fall of wicket: 1-84.
Haryana bowling: Sachin Rana 10-2-24-0, Amit Vashisht 8-1-28-0, Dhruv Singh 7-1-17-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 14-3-35-0, Amit Mishra 16-2-50-1, Nitin Saini 3-0-7-0.
