Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has fallen down the pecking order, began his domestic season with a big century (184) as West Zone ended Day 1 at 363/6 against Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinals at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Coming in at No 4 after West lost its openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harvik Desai inside the first four overs, Gaikwad constructed his innings brilliantly, accelerating after getting his eye in. In the other semifinal at the same venue, N Jagadeesan scored an unbeaten 148 to carry South Zone to 297/3 against North Zone.
Apart from Gaikwad, the rest of the West Zone batting which includes Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer had a forgettable outing as Central’s pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar struck with the new ball. Post that it was all about Gaikwad after West Zone won the toss and chose to bat first. Having warmed up to the season with a good outing at the Buchi Babu Tournament, Gaikwad was in his element through his 206-ball knock. After constructing a 90-run stand for the third wicket with Aarya Desai when West were struggling at 10/2, Gaikwad capitalised in the second and third session of the day.
After bringing up his fifty off 85 deliveries, which saw him see-off testing spells from Central’s seam attack, he pressed on the accelerator in the post-lunch session to get to the three-figure mark off 131 deliveries. His second fifty came off just 51 balls as Gaikwad dominated the proceedings with flair and substance.
It was the Central spinners, in particular off-spinner Saransh Jain who was at the receiving end of Gaikwad’s dominance. Out of the 25 boundaries he scored, 15 came on either side of the off-side square as he brought out his late-cuts and cover drives to precision. Even though Gaikwad was doing all the heavy lifting, West continued to stumble as they lost Aarya (39), Shreyas (25) and Shams Mulani (18) in rather quick succession to be placed first at 137/4 and then at 179/5. Despite getting a life off the first ball he faced, where he was dropped by Ahmed of Harsh Dubey, Iyer could only make 25.
The support that Gaikwad was long looking for came from Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian, who is no stranger to playing vital knocks under pressure. Having faced quite a few back to the wall situations with Mumbai, he had to repeat it again this time for West and stitch a 148-run stand for the sixth wicket that deflated the Central attack. After completing his century, Gaikwad was in cruise mode, getting to 150 off 178 , the third fifty coming off just 47 deliveries. A maiden first-class double century was there for Gaikwad’s taking before he was stumped off Jain. Kotian (65 n.o) in the company of skipper Shardul Thakur ensured there were no further setbacks.
South go slow
Having ignored calls from the BCCI to pick Indian players who are not on international duty, all eyes were on how South Zone would go about it in their clash against North. And made to bat first, South’s openers Tanmay Agarwal and Jagadeesan started off on a cautious note, stitching together 103 run stand in 31.3 overs to set up a strong base.
Hyderabad’s Agarwal, who has been amongst the consistent performers in Ranji Trophy, failed to convert his start (43), but Jagadeesan made up for it. The Tamil Nadu player, who went to England with India as a replacement for injured Rishabh Pant, abandoned his usual aggressive game after being given an early reprieve. An expansive drive off seamer Anshul Kamboj was caught by wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan, but only for third-umpire to step in to call no-ball. Having taken 124 deliveries to bring up his fifty, Jagadeesan was unstoppable thereafter, as he brought up the next fifty off just 60 balls. During this phase, he was particularly severe on Himachal Pradesh left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar, milking him for 33 runs off the 22 deliveries that he faced. It included two huge sixes and three boundaries.
Story continues below this ad
Once Agarwal left, Jagadeesan had the solid Devdutt Padikkal for company who looked good right through his stay of 71 deliveries for his 51. Thereafter, South once again resorted to a cautious approach as they lost Padikkal and Mohit Kale in the space of 10 overs. When stumps were called, giving Jagadeesan company was skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen on 11. For North, Nishant Sindhu was the pick of the bowlers.
Brief scores: South Zone 297/3 in 81 overs (Narayan Jagadeesan 148 n.o, Devdutt Padikkal 57; Nishant Sindhu 2/59) vs North Zone. West Zone 363/6 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 184, Tanush Kotian 65 n.o; Khaleel Ahmed 2/70).
