Was determined to get a century, says Bhavane

 Popping pain killers and receiving constant pep talk from his partner Shreyas Gopal, southpaw Shishir Bhavane batted his way to his maiden first-class ton against Bengal here on Saturday.

The 24-year-old had come close to making a first-class hundred against Bangladesh ‘A’ in Mysuru last month before falling in the 80s. The Hubballi-born batsman, however, was determined not to miss out on the opportunity this time, despite experiencing pain after almost every stroke.

“Personally, I’m very happy to have gotten my first (first-class) hundred because I missed a hundred against Bangladesh ‘A’,” pointed out Bhavane after the day’s play. “Last match (against Assam) I was on 65 and it was still too far (from century), so to get a hundred here I’m very happy. I found it difficult to play square of the wicket and flick the ball because I had to roll (the bat) with my top hand and I was finding it difficult playing on the on-side,” he explained.

Bhavane said he found it easier to concentrate because of the pain. “On the impact, I was feeling the shock through the whole of my arm so it was little difficult to play strokes. But I think it was easier to concentrate because what it (pain) does is it cuts down (some of) your strokes. I was just waiting to drive and just to tap for singles. That helped me concentrate more.”

Another centurion Shreyas felt there wasn’t much help from the pitch for the spinners. “It’s turning but it’s turning from the fourth stump (on the leg side), there isn’t much help from the wicket as yet. But considering that tomorrow is the fourth day, the cracks may open up a bit more. There could be some uneven bounce as well. I think that’s when we will be more effective but until then we have to bowl stump-to-stump,” he reasoned.

The all-rounder exuded confidence that Karnataka could win the match from this position, something they couldn’t against Assam in their opener. “If we can push and get three-four wickets before lunch tomorrow, we'll seal the match. It’s obviously the perfect KSCA wicket. It did keep a little low if we can create a few more marks by the fast bowlers the spinners can come into the game at some point and definitely it’s not easy playing our fast bowlers, we are easily the best fast bowling unit in the country. It’s going to be pretty hard for them and we’ll try and make it as difficult as possible and make them earn every run,” he elaborated.