JOIN USYadav spell puts Rest in command
A bowling unit containing Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha was expected to blow the opposition away like candy floss. The Rest of India attack indeed bundled out Rajasthan for 253 on the first day of the Irani Cup, but there was a strange lack of dynamism in their effort at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday.
Till Umesh (5-55) managed to scythe through Rajasthan’s late order in the last session of the day, the Rest of India bowlers looked a tardy unit, clueless against a stubborn Robin Bist (117 n.o, 262m, 187b, 14x4, 2x6), who crafted a composed hundred, Rashmi Ranjan Parida and Dishant Yagnik.
For a good part of the day, it never appeared that half of India’s attack was on the park, and only some perplexing lack of application from Rajasthan batsmen helped them to claw back into the match. Rest of India were two for no loss at close with openers Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay guarding the fort.
Back to Rajasthan innings, if a couple of more batsmen showed as much spunk as Bist, the day’s story could have been vastly different.
The defending Ranji champions at one stage were placed at a rather comfortable 218 for four after surviving the twin blows by Stuart Binny in the first session that saw them wobbling at 46 for three. From that stage, Rajasthan stitched together two fine stands in a row -- 105 for the fourth wicket between Bist and Parida, and a 67 between Bist and Yagnik for the fifth wicket -- to stall Rest’s charge.
It was precisely at this stage, the Rest’s bowlers found their range and munificence of fortune and Rajasthan’s batsmen. Ishant, who began the day with five consecutive maidens, started the destruction process ousting Parida, who shouldered arms to a delivery that came in a bit to uproot the off-stump.
From that point, Umesh took over. The 23-year old fast bowler ran through the late-order, jettisoning Yagnik, Deepak Chahar, Madhur Khetri, Gajendra Singh and Aniket Choudhary in the span of 27 deliveries.
All of them except Yagnik, who fell to a marginal leg before decision, were culpable of throwing their wickets away to some ordinary deliveries, leaving Bist a stunned spectator of the carnage at the other end.
However, Bist, who migrated to Rajasthan from Delhi, has enough reasons to hold his head high. Never for once did any of the Rest bowlers manage to trouble him. Bist took 15 deliveries to get off the mark, and four more deliveries to score his first boundary, but once got a measure of the RoI bowlers, the right-hander gave them hardly any chance.
There were several lovely shots garnished with authoritativeness in his 262 minute–long innings, and his penchant to bring out the pull against pacers was particularly impressive. It was the kind of innings that justified the hype around a young, talented batsman.
It’s quite tough to score 1000 runs in a season, and Bist had managed that feat during the last Ranji season, averaging close to 90. His innings on the day was a strong reminder that his heavy scoring wasn’t a fluke, and time has come for the big wigs to take a more serious look at him.
The only time Bist looked in trouble was when a low edge off Binny went past a tumbling Vijay at slips, but otherwise the diminutive batsman showed the pitch and the bowling in right perspective. Bist brought his hundred with a top edge off Umesh, but he hardly had any other in his team to share his determination and desire for big runs.
Score board
RAJASTHAN (I Innings): Ankit Lamba c Rahane b Binny 29 (105m, 71b, 6x4), Vineet Saxena c Saha b Ishant 0 (13m, 12b), Hrishikesh Kanitkar lbw Binny 8 (73, 48b), Robin Bist (not out) 117 (262m, 187b, 14x4, 2x6), Rashmi Ranjan Parida b Ishant 34 (128m, 97b, 6x4), Dishant Yagnik lbw Umesh 40 (62m, 68b, 6x4), Deepak Chahar c Saha b Umesh 0 (1m, 1b), Madhur Khatri c Saha b Umesh 0 (9m, 5b), Gajendra Singh c Badrinath b Umesh 6 (15m, 12b), Aniket Choudhary b Umesh 0 (9m, 9b), Sumit Mathur (run out) 4 (19m, 12b). Extras (B-5, LB-7, NB-3) 15. Total (all out, 86.3 overs) 253
Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Saxena), 2-41 (Kanitkar), 3-46 (Lamba), 4-151 (Parida), 5-218 (Yagnik), 6-218 (Chahar), 7-220 (Khatri), 8-231 (Gajendra), 9-238 (Aniket).
Bowling: Ishant 12-6-17-2, Umesh 20-7-55-5, Binny 15-2-38-2, Ojha 25.3-5-78-0, Harmeet Singh 13-2-45-0 (w-3), Badrinath 1-0-8-0.
REST OF INDIA (I innings): Ajinkya Rahane (batting) 2 (2m, 6b), Murali Vijay (batting) 0 (0b, 6m). Total (for no loss, 1 over) 2.
Bowling: Aniket Choudhary 1-0-2-0.