JOIN USKarun triple ton shuts out TN
Long after the players and a sparse group of spectators left the Wankhede Stadium, Karun Nair walked back to the dressing room in a relaxed gait. But then he stood for a second in the middle of the ground, seemingly an act of afterthought.
Karun took his cell phone out and quickly clicked a selfie with Wankhede giving a fine backdrop. For Karun, this venue was the theatre of his dreams, where he scored an unbeaten 310 on Tuesday, the third day of the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu.
His extraordinary 815-minute long effort pushed Karnataka to a monstrous 618 for seven, and helped the defending champions pile up a lead of 484 runs. But strangely, the utter domination of Karnataka and the constant tumbling of records were only the second story of the day.
Karun offered the main thread. Before this match, the 23-year-old had scored 381 runs from nine matches with just a fifty. That lean number seemed leaner as Karun had scored 494 runs from six matches at 61.75 with three hundreds the previous season.
So what is Karun? One season wonder? An over-rated, over-paid child of the IPL? Why is he still in the team? Uncomfortable questions gathered steam as he struggled to find his runs and range.
He answered the inquisitors in the best possible way and on the best stage too. He had made an unbeaten 130 on Monday, announcing his return to form. There were several moments of struggle, as you would expect from a batsman who has been striving to get back to his run-making ways.
But on this day, a hatchback lacking in turbo power transformed into a revving sports car. He had consumed 295 balls for his 130 the previous day, but he required only 238 balls for this day’s 180. He had accumulated 19 fours a day earlier, and this day he smashed 26 boundaries and a six.
There were clunking cuts past point and gully fielders, elegant drives and cheeky paddle sweeps, showing his entire repertoire of shots. There was a period when he slowed down after reaching 280, but he made up for that dull period bringing up his 300 with a flourish. A well-executed reverse sweep off off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan earned him a membership in an exclusive club.
It was not just a solo effort. Karun and KL Rahul extended their overnight sixth-wicket partnership of 239 to a mightily impressive 386 this day, spanking the Tamil Nadu bowlers all over the park. It was the second highest stand for that wicket in the history of Ranji Trophy after the 417 pieced together by Bengal’s Wriddhiman Saha and Laxmi Ratan Shukla against Assam in 2010-11.
Tamil Nadu, trailing by 189 runs overnight, would have cherished a slim of hope of bundling out Karnataka early in the morning session, and then try to make a match of it by batting big in the second innings. But Karun and Rahul dashed those ambitions in the most spectacular way. Eventually, Rahul skied a catch to Vijay Shankar off Rangarajan and the Tamil Nadu players appeared a relieved lot after being in the receiving end of sustained punishment. They soon dismissed Shreyas Gopal to grab their third wicket in two days. But all that joy lasted only till R Vinay Kumar stepped on to the field. The Karnataka skipper twisted the dagger into a struggling Tamil Nadu unit mercilessly, milking 177 runs for the unfinished eighth wicket with Karun.
Vinay made 41 runs in that stand, while Karun made 136. So emphatically dominant were Karun and Karnataka.