Tripura vs Tamil Nadu, Ranji Trophy 2023/24: Vijay Shankar and Indrajith remain solid on light-curtailed day

After opting for the risky ploy of batting first, considering the fickle weather and absence of quite a few first-team regulars, Vijay Shankar and B Indrajith ensured Tamil Nadu ended the day with 122/2 in 41 overs.

FILE PHOTO : Tamil Nadu’s Vijay Shankar in action during 2nd day of Ranji Trophy match between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in Valsad, Gujarat. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI/ The Hindu

When Tamil Nadu captain R. Sai Kishore took the audacious call of batting first during the Ranji Trophy fixture against Tripura here, the idea may have been to try and post a big total and inflict an innings defeat on the home side to claim all of the seven points on offer.

This was a risky ploy, considering the fickle weather and absence of quite a few first-team regulars. But the experienced campaigners in Vijay Shankar (50 n.o., 83b, 4x9) and Baba Indrajith (47 n.o., 105b, 4x7) remained unbeaten to ensure TN, having ended the day with 122/2 in 41 overs, headed back to the hotel from Maharaja Bir Bikram Stadium pleased with its performance.

After the entirety of the first day was lost to bad light, the start of the Elite Group ‘C’ match was further delayed by four hours on Saturday owing to poor visibility.

Initially, it felt like it had been a lucky toss to lose for the home side as cold winds continued to sweep across the park for a while under overcast skies. For Tripura, playing without a specialist spinner, pacers Manisankar Murasingh and Rana Datta found ample movement with the new ball to vex the openers.

Balasubramaniam Sachin, especially, found it difficult to counter the late inswingers from Datta. In the eighth over, the southpaw misread the lateral movement on one to lose his stumps.

B. Sachin gets beaten on the outside edge during the Ranji Trophy match between Tripura and Tamil Nadu in Agartala on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Santadeep Dey/ Sportstar

R Vimal Khumar, on his First Class debut, adopted a cautious approach. Even though he played most of his shots with soft hands, Murasingh finally trapped the 21-year-old plumb in front of the sticks in the 13th over.

Vijay, batting at No. 4, survived a couple of close calls in the last session. He nicked the very first ball after Tea but an intervention by the third umpire ruled it a no-ball.

In the same over, another opportunity went abegging as the ball dropped just short of the second slip. But as they say, all’s well that ends well.

The scores:

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: R Vimal Khumar lbw Murasingh 14, Balasubramaniam Sachin b Datta 5, Baba Indrajith (not out) 47, Vijay Shankar (not out) 50; Extras (lb-4, w-0, nb-2): 6; Total (in 41 overs): 122/2.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-29.

Tripura bowling: Murasingh 12-3-11-1, Datta 9-1-26-1, Sarkar 11-1-47-0, Debnath 9-2-34-0.