Mumbai, Oct 26 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (114) and Musheer Khan (109) hit scintillating centuries to put Mumbai in the driver’s seat as the hosts ended the first day of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at a commanding 290 for three here on Monday.
Raghuvanshi cracked his maiden first-class hundred, while Musheer converted his third fifty of the tournament into a hundred to lay the foundation for Mumbai, putting on 208 runs for the second wicket.
Mumbai were jolted early by the dismissal of Divyaansh Saxena (10), but opener Raghuvanshi and No. 3 Musheer consolidated the hosts’ position with compelling centuries amid severe heat and humidity.
Raghuvanshi cracked 13 fours and a six to make 114 off 180 balls, while Musheer’s 109 came off 185 balls and included 12 fours and a spectacular six over midwicket.
The two batted with ease in the first two sessions, flaying the Haryana attack on what was an uncharacteristically batting-friendly pitch at the BKC Ground here.
Raghuvanshi, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, said battling perceptions of him being more of a white-ball specialist than an all-format player was more in his mind than outside.
“My debut (in first-class cricket) was three years back. I fell for 92 and eventually lost my place in the side. I know how tough it is to play for Mumbai. All India players play here, so those thoughts started creeping in, about whether I would make it (a maiden ton) or not,” Raghuvanshi told reporters.
“I don’t know what perception the others had, but within me, there were some doubts. It’s a very natural thing. Unless I am able to prove it to myself, I am not sure whether I will be able to do it or not.”
Raghuvanshi said a conversation with his coach Abhishek Nayar helped him gain a clearer perspective on playing red-ball cricket.
“I had a conversation with my coach, Abhishek sir, and I was making it a huge thing in my head, thinking that maybe I don’t have the skills to play red-ball cricket. I asked him what I was doing wrong and whether I was not disciplined enough. The only thing he told me was, ‘At the end of the day, it’s cricket’,” Raghuvanshi said.
“If I am playing white-ball or red-ball cricket, my job is to score runs. He asked me to just go out and not worry about what is going to happen. He told me to just think about how I could hit that ball for a boundary and, if it wasn’t there to hit, defend it,” he added.
At stumps, skipper Siddhesh Lad was batting on 29, accompanied by Sarfaraz Khan on 20, with the latter surviving a loud caught-behind appeal off Aman Kumar (1/39).
Meanwhile, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu were placed precariously at 71 for three after Zubair Ali’s 75 and his 61-run stand with Himanshu Sangwan for the 10th wicket helped Railways reach 184 all out.
Tamil Nadu were trailing by 113 runs in the first innings.
At Dehradun, Uttarakhand were 18 for no loss, trailing Rajasthan by 254 runs in the first innings.
After losing both their matches so far, Chandigarh made a bright start in the third round, reaching 363 for two against Himachal Pradesh.
Brief scores:
In Mumbai: Mumbai 290/3 in 82 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 114, Musheer Khan 109; Samant Jakhar 1/25) vs Haryana.
In Chennai: Railways 184 in 53.3 overs (Zubair Ali 75; Sonu Yadav 3/46, R Sai Kishore 3/53) lead Tamil Nadu 71/3 in 25 overs (N Jagadeesan 30; Toufik Mondal 2/15) by 113 runs.
In Dehradun: Rajasthan 272 in 81.2 overs (Kartik Sharma 73; Devendra Bora 6/72) lead Uttarakhand 18 for no loss (Tejasvi Jaiswal 9 not out, Dega Nischal 9 not out) by 254 runs.
In Chandigarh: Chandigarh 363/2 in 87 overs (Nehal Pajni 126 not out, Arjun Azad 146) vs Himachal Pradesh.
(PTI News)
