A handful of Rajasthan players, to be sure, would have started to believe Rahul Radesh had plastered himself to the crease on day two of a Ranji Trophy Elite Group B clash against Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Pacer Aniket Choudhary of the home team would tell you in jest that “Vineet (Saxena, opposition coach) ji’s tonic” was the secret sauce.
Playing only his sixth First Class game, Radesh cracked his maiden century in the format to take his side to 410 in the first innings.
AS IT HAPPENED: Ranji Trophy, Round 4, Day 2: Rajasthan vs Hyderabad Highlights
The wicketkeeper-batter’s Pujara-esque patience and resilience became the talk of the town as he faced 268 balls, batting through four sessions and spending 420 minutes under the barbarous Jaipur sun.
Although left-arm spinner Kukna Ajay Singh picked up a fifer, he failed to decode the 21-year-old. It finally required skipper Deepak Hooda to bring himself on to end the suffering.
Earlier, Ajay Dev Goud lost his wicket only nine balls into the day, with Deepak Chahar making the batter poke at a delivery pluming away from him.
The experienced Chama Milind survived a run-out by the skin of his teeth when point fielder had a shy at the sticks in the 111th over. He eventually fell, against the passage of play, with Ram Chauhan pouching a dolly at short leg.
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Choudhary struck Tanay Thyagarajan below the knee-roll right after Lunch. After Kukna returned to trap G. Anikethreddy leg-before, Rakshan Readdi took it upon himself to help Radesh get to the triple digits by defending 28 balls without scoring a run.
It seemed Radesh couldn’t put a foot wrong on Thursday, even if he wanted to, as he also snaffled up a diving catch to see the back of Chauhan when Rajasthan emerged to bat. But Mahipal Lomror and Abhijeet Tomar soon assumed control to post an unbeaten 90-run stand and shave 117 runs off the lead.
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