Ranji Trophy: ‘Kid’ Smaran makes a statement with touch of class

Bengaluru: If you’re familiar with the sound of an engine backfiring, you’d have gotten an earful at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday for every stroke off of R Smaran’s bat was dripping with that shock and awe factor.

The 21-year-old entered the second day of Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy tie against Punjab with an overnight score of 83 from 100 balls so he had laid the foundation for his second century in as many games - across two formats - but to see him go about his business as calmly as he did despite a couple of iffy shots was a thing of beauty. 

Besides, the youngster’s laidback elan makes batting, including running between wickets, seem leisurely rather than a stressor in an intense profession. 

Smaran expressed this unfettered trait most recently in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Vidarbha, scoring a century when it mattered most. On Friday, he did it again. This time with a gorgeous knock of 203 from 277 balls. 

Having bowled Punjab out for 55 in the first innings, Karnataka were on the front foot so it might seem like he didn’t have the weight on him to deliver, but if you take into account what Karnataka are up against in the context of the tournament, the innings would assume more significance.

Karnataka ended their innings on 475 from 122.1 overs to establish a 420-run lead before restricting Punjab to 24 for 2 in 13 overs with Shubman Gill unbeaten on seven. What this means is Mayank Agarwal’s men now have a little more reason to believe in the miracle that would put them in contention for qualification. 

Karnataka are fourth in Group C behind Haryana, Kerala and Bengal so they would need two bonus-point wins to improve the odds of progress. All things considered, it’s not likely that they will, but for a team in transition, it’s always nice to witness the birth of someone more than ready for this stage. 

Smaran’s talents were always spoken of with a touch of optimism, even when he wasn’t in form, and that’s possibly because he has the aesthetics to disarm criticism. But, of late, the kid hasn’t been kidding around. 

After a lukewarm start to his first-class career, Smaran went into the white-ball season and started showing his true self, but his credentials as a red-ball batter still needed vetting. With this knock, which included 25 fours and three sixes, Smaran announced his arrival. 

Also, he became the fifth player from Karnataka to convert his maiden first-class century into a double-century. He joined the illustrious list of GR Vishwanath, Sanjay Desai, Roger Binny and Kartik Jeshwant.

The feat wouldn’t have transpired had Sukhdeep Bajwa held onto a simple catch at cover when Smaran was on 141, but a pinch of luck is all good batters need to make it count. In fact, the three boundaries which took him to his maiden century were all rather streaky. 

After jumping from 91 to 95 to 99 with edges between fielders at the slip cordon, Smaran figured he may as well make a statement out of it by slicing Aradhya Sukhla over the mid-off ropes for a six. It wasn’t a convincing stroke, but those in flow have a way of making things their own. 

Luck or not, Smaran was a fine view, and it sure feels like he has what it takes to be the next quality export from Karnataka to India.  

SCOREBOARD PUNJAB (I Innings): 55 all out KARNATAKA (I Innings): KV Aneesh c Inder b Aaradhya 33 (37b 5x4 1x6) Mayank Agarwal lbw Sanvir 20 (44b 2x4) Devdutt Padikkal c Prabhsimran b Gurnoor 27 (45b 5x4) R Smaran b Inder 203 (277b 25x4 3x6) KL Shrijith c Anmolpreet b Markande 26 (65b 4x4) Abhinav Manohar c Ramandeep b Markande 34 (64b 4x4 2x6) Shreyas Gopal lbw Gurnoor 31 (56b 4x4) Yashovardhan Parantap b Inder 26 (70b 3x4) Prasidh Krishna b Inder 30 (26b 3x4 2x6) Vasuki Koushik (not out) 10 (24b 1x4) Abhilash Shetty c Gurnoor b Markande 12 (27b 2x4). Extras (B-7 LB-14 NB-2) 23. TOTAL (all out 122.1 overs) 475. Fall of wickets: 1-55 (Aneesh) 2-59 (Mayank) 3-111 (Padikkal) 4-192 (Shrijith) 5-278 (Abhinav) 6-353 (Shreyas) 7-420 (Smaran) 8-443 (Parantap) 9-460 (Prasidh).   Bowling: Gurnoor Brar 29-4-125-2 Sukhdeep Bajwa 19-1-63-0 Aradhya Shukla 23-3-73-1 Sanvir Singh 18-2-74-1 Jass Inder 17-1-66-3 Mayank Markande 16.1-0-53-3. PUNJAB (II Innings): Prabhsimran Singh c Parantap b Abhilash 1 (4b) Shubman Gill (batting) 7 (36b 1x4) Anmolpreet Singh lbw Prasidh 14 (34b 3x4) Jass Inder (batting) 0 (5b). Extras (W-1 NB-1) 2. TOTAL (for 2 wkts 13 overs) 24. Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Prabhsimran) 2-23 (Anmolpreet). Bowling: V Koushik 7-0-9-0 Abhilash Shetty 4-0-11-1 Prasidh Krishna 2-1-4-1. Other Group C brief scores: In Kalyani: Haryana: 157 all and 158/2 in 44 overs (Lakshay Dalal 38 Ankit Kumar 32 Himanshu Rana 46 batting Nishant Sindhu 26 batting) vs Bengal (O/n: 10/1): 125 all out in 40.2 overs (Ankit Chatterjee 29 Abhishek Porel 31; Sumit Kumar 2-15 Anuj Thakral 6-31). At Patna: Bihar: 248 all out vs Uttar Pradesh (O/n: 4/0): 417/2 in 91 overs (Abhishek Goswami 198 Madhav Kaushik 63 Aryan Juyal 103 batting Karan Sharma 37 batting). At Thiruvananthapuram: Madhya Pradesh: 160 all out and 140/2 in 41 overs (Himanshu Mantri 31 Shubham Sharma 46 batting Rajat Patidar 50 batting) vs Kerala (O/n: 54/0): 167 all out in 56.2 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 25 Salman Nizar 36 Mohammed Azharuddeen 34; Aryan Pandey 3-31 Avesh Khan 3-43 Saransh Jain 2-11).