B. Indrajith galvanised the Tamil Nadu innings after early shocks had given Railways the upper hand on the opening day of the Group B Ranji Trophy match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Friday. Indrajith’s unbeaten 121 saw Tamil Nadu, put in, finish the day at 288 for six.
On a day when cricket was intense only in phases, Indrajith stole the show from the trio of Railways seamers Anureet Singh, Krishnakant Upadhyaya and Ranjeet Mali. The pitch offered variable bounce and batting demanded application and skills but the 21-year-old Indrajith was an exception to the top-order collapse that Tamil Nadu suffered.
Railways had to strive in the absence of an effective slow bowler. Bhima Rao, bowling off-spin, made an average debut while the spirited Anureet was relentless in his pursuit, ready to bowl with the new or old ball, giving a splendid exhibition of endurance and stamina in claiming three wickets. It was hard on the 27-year-old who beat the bat frequently but his returns proved inadequate to his efforts. Pleasing shots The day belonged to Indrajith. He paced his innings diligently, picking the line early and batting to his strength with some pleasing drives highlighting his style. The cover-drive off Upadhyay to herald his century off the new ball was as compelling a sight as some of his strokes on the front foot, assured in their execution and leaving a trail of authority.
“There was initial movement off the pitch,” said Indrajith. “The odd ball kept low, there was no turn, but playing shots was not easy. I just tried to play it safe.”
For a batsman who played lot of local cricket as an opener and found himself batting lower in the order for Tamil Nadu, Indrajith gave a decent account of his potential.
“I batted No. 7 last year and No. 5 this season. I have got used to the lower order and in fact I like to take up responsibility. It puts pressure on me to do well,” said Indrajith, who has batted 178 balls and hit 21 fours in his impressive knock. Exciting duel Anureet had an exciting duel with Indrajith after having snared his twin-brother B. Aparajith in the seventh over of the day. Tamil Nadu prospered through a 61-run stand between Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik before Railways crawled back into the game. Karthik and Abhinav succumbed to impetuous shots.
An innocuous ball accounted for Abhinav, who indicated he had played the ball, while Karthik nicked even as he shaped to leave. Tamil Nadu looked up to Vijay Shankar to bolster the innings but his stay was cut short by one that kept low. R. Prasanna and J. Kousik failed to extend their confident stay and Tamil Nadu stayed in sight of a 350-plus score through Indrajith and Malolan Rangarajan.
For Railways, losing in-form batsman Ashish Singh to a stomach ailment this morning was an unfortunate development.
THE SCORES: TAMIL NADU — 1ST INNINGS: B. Aparajith b Anureet 3, Abhinav Mukund lbw b Bhima Rao 49, Dinesh Karthik c Arindam b Mali 27, Vijay Shankar lbw b Anureet 19, B. Indrajith (batting) 121, R. Prasanna c Rawat b Ashish 22, J. Kousik c Rawat b Anureet 32, Malolan Rangarajan (batting) 8; Extras (lb-1, nb-5, w-1): 7; Total (for six wkts. in 90 overs): 288.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6, 2-67, 3-95, 4-101, 5-180, 6-258.
RAILWAYS BOWLING: Anureet Singh 33-7-82-3, Krishnakant Upadhyay 20-2-75-0, Ranjeet Mali 19-4-57-1, Bhima Rao 11-1-47-1, Ashish Yadav 7-2-26-1.
