Chennai: Turn, bounce and wickets were the order of the day at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. As many as 16 wickets — all to the spinners — tumbled in 87.1 overs on the opening day of the Tamil Nadu-Bengal Ranji Trophy match. Bengal, having been shot out for 130, reduced the hosts to 66 for six with the departure of Dinesh Karthik (28) rounding off the list of batsmen who fell prey to the spinners.
Even though the pitch had a lot for the tweakers, the batsmen had only themselves to blame for playing reckless shots from start to finish. Both teams, united in their desperation for an outright win, indulged in hara-kiri. The aggressive approach of Bengal and TN was refreshing but the problem was in execution.
Classic examples of batsmen throwing away their wickets were the dismissals of in-form Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla and a well-set Karthik from the opposition ranks.
Shukla, who played as if he was continuing his innings of 117 from the Uttar Pradesh match, came down the track and tried to muscle one down the ground off left-arm spinner Rahil S. Shah only to miss the ball and get stumped for a first-ball duck on the stroke of lunch.
Karthik, who tackled the Bengal spinners with a unique blend of caution with aggression, attempted a fierce sweep in the last over of the day. But his ambitious effort to punish off-spinner Arnab Nandi resulted in the ball kissing the back of his bat and carry to the first slip.
Opting to bat, Bengal lost wickets at regular intervals and couldn’t forge even a single 50-run stand. It was the spin duo of R. Malolan (6/30) and Rahil (4/65) who accounted for all the Bengal wickets. Left-arm spinner R. Aushik Srinivas wasn’t given a over by skipper L. Balaji.
Every time a Bengal batsman looked to charge, there was only an addition to the wickets tally. Subhomoy Das looked a rare Bengal batsman capable of putting the visitors in control. After playing a cameo of 36 from 49 balls, he, too, perished to the bowling of Rahil.
Malolan was primarily responsible for making the scores of Bengal lower-order starting from Shukla read — 0,9,5,0,0. TN spinners responded brilliantly to their captain Balaji’s aggressive field positions. Malolan and Rahil attacked relentlessly without overstepping the boundary despite suffering brief punishment at the hands of Das and Sudip Chatterjee (34*).
Uncharacteristic and inexplicable are the words that should summarise Tamil Nadu’s batting. B. Aparajith (8) ran down only to be bowled, S. Badrinath (3) found the mid-on fielder following an audacious scoring shot, Abhinav Mukund (14) swept one straight to mid-wicket placed strategically left TN struggling at 29 for three.
Off-spinner Saurasish Lahiri (2/27) and left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena (2/21) weren’t as venomous as their counterparts from the rival side until TN’s top-order played into their hands.
From then on, the Bengal spinners were in complete control running through the hosts’ inexperienced middle-order. It will be once again up to R. Prasanna (0*) and the lower-order to rescue their side.
SCORECARD
Bengal (1st innings): Gitimoy Basu lbw Rahil 6, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Indrajith b Malolan 17, Subhomoy Das c Mukund b Rahil 36, Sudip Chatterjee (not out) 34, Arnab Nandi c Aparajith b Malolan 14, L.R. Shukla st Karthik b Rahil 0, Writtick Chatterjee c Rahil b Malolan 9, Saurashish Lahiri c Rahil b Malolan 5, Ashok Dinda st Karthik b Malolan 0, Iresh Saxena b Malolan 0, Jitender Shaw b Rahil 0. Extras (b6, lb2, nb1) 9. Total (in 52 overs) 130.
Fow: 1-14, 2-56, 3-64, 4-85, 5-86, 6-101, 7-107, 8-117, 9-123.
Bowling: L. Balaji 7-2-14-0, Vijay Shankar 6-2-13-0, Rahil S. Shah 23-5-65-4, R. Malolan 16-2-30-6.
Tamil Nadu (1st innings): B. Aparajith b Saxena 8, Abhinav Mukund c Das b Saxena 14, S. Badrinath c Shukla b Lahiri 3, B. Indrajith c Abhimanyu b Lahiri 3, Dinesh Karthik c Das b Nandi 28, Vijay Shankar b Writtick 6, R. Prasanna (batting) 0. Extras 4 (4b). Total (for six wkts in 35.1 overs) 66.
Fow: 1-16, 2-29, 3-29, 4-45, 5-66, 6-66.
Bowling: Ashok Dinda 4-1-4-0, Saurasish Lahiri 15-5-27-2, Iresh Saxena 10-2-21-2, Jitendra Shaw 2-1-1-0, Arnab Nandi 2.1-0-4-1, Writtick Chatterjee 2-1-5-1.
Tamil boy Abhimanyu out to oust ‘home’ state in Ranji
Tamil boy Abhimanyu out to oust ‘home’ state in Ranji
Chennai: A Bengal batsman was heartily cheered at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium against Tamil Nadu in a crucial Ranji Trophy on day one. Were they supporters of Bengal team? No. “We have come here to support Abhimanyu Easwaran,” was the response from a group of five members.
Abhimanyu, 18-year-old Bengal opener who is playing his second match in his maiden season, hails from Dehradun and traces his roots to Tamil Nadu. His father R.P. Easwaran, who owns four companies in various parts of the country, has come all the way to Chennai to watch his son take on the state where his father L.R. Ranganathan was born.
In his second home, Abhimanyu received applause for every run he scored from his father, father’s uncle’s L.R. Gopalakrishnan, L.R. Jayaraman and his family along with coach Manoj Rawat. Their joy soon turned into agony as Abhimanyu returned to the pavilion after being caught at short-leg for 17. As he trudged back to the dressing room, Easwaran and Co. were a picture of desolation.
Gathering himself after his son’s exit, Easwaran opened up on his passion for cricket. “My father Ranganathan, 75, was born in Chennai. He was an accountant and we moved to Dehradun in the late 60s. I was a small kid then and though my interest was with cricket I had to work from eighth grade to support my family. My passion just ended as a dream,” said Easwaran
Even though he has been living in Dehradun for more than 40 years, Easwaran’s Tamil was surprisingly good. “My father and his siblings know Tamil and they speak the language quite well. I owe my Tamil to them. But Abhimanyu, who has hardly visited Chennai, doesn’t speak Tamil. Neither does his mother,” he added.
“Even though I couldn’t pursue my cricket passion, I did go on to achieve something in academics by becoming a chartered accountant. Then I inched closer towards my another dream of building a stadium. I did succeed eventually and started an academy named Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun. I’m proud of the fact that it has nurtured many youngsters and 14 boys from my academy have represented their respective states at various age groups this year,” he added.
Intriguingly, his son was born only in 1995 while the academy was inaugurated in 1988. “Many people think I built the stadium only for my son. But the institution which also offers education is for all. An expert team headed by Rajdeep Kalsi, coach of Himachal Pradesh, is in charge of training,” he added.
Easwaran felt that his son had to move to Bengal to pursue his dreams. “I knew that he would become a cricket player when he first held a bat. Bengal has a good cricket structure at the junior level. I was confident that my son would succeed if he moved to Bengal,” said Easwaran, 51.
Rawat, a level two BCCI certified coach, was also present to see his ward’s performance. “I’m a bit disappointed that he got out after facing 76 balls. His strength has always been to stay at the wicket and play a long innings. His specialty was his ability to finish games in the age group tournaments and hope he carries on in the same vein for Bengal as well. He bowls part time leg-spin and it adds value to the side,” the coach said.
Easwaran wants Bengal to knock out Tamil Nadu while Jayaraman, who lives in Chennai, said, “I’m in a dilemma whether to support my state TN or pray for a Bengal win, which would pave the for more matches for Abhimanyu in the Ranji Trophy this season.”
