Ganesh Satish pleased at ‘rectifying’ 2014 disappointment

Vidarbha’s top-order batsman celebrated his birthday on Thursday with a century.

Ganesh Satish celebrates his century against Rest of India on Thursday in Nagpur.

It was going to be a special day for Ganesh Satish, who was celebrating his 30th birthday.

The Bangalore boy refers to himself as a “local” in Vidarbha's set-up and calls Nagpur as his “second home,” having been a professional with the team for four years. He made the occasion extra special by notching up a hundred to help Vidarbha put Rest of India under the mat on the second day of the Irani Cup.

Satish was more thrilled to attain a timely hundred than mark his birthday with a big knock. Satish admitted he was keen not to miss out on an Irani hundred yet again; it was something he had experienced in what turned out to be his last game for Karnataka four years ago. “I batted well but got out for 80 (84) that day in Bangalore. Today I wanted to rectify it and score a hundred, so it was really good to get this one,” Satish said at the VCA Stadium on Thursday.

‘Fairly consistent’

Having opted to be a professional at a relatively younger age of 26 in quest of consistent opportunities, Satish felt he has justified the decision and the opportunity presented to him.

“I think I have done pretty well for Vidarbha. I have been fairly consistent, apart from last year where I was a little down. But if you see, even the team has been progressing well. And this year everyone did so well and winning the Ranji Trophy was a real high,” he said.

Stats box # Wasim Jaffer's unbeaten 285 is the highest individual score in an Irani Cup tie, bettering M. Vijay's 266 for Rest of India versus Rajasthan at Bangalore in 2012. # Wasim Jaffer recorded the highest individual score by a Vidarbha batsman in first-class cricket, eclipsing Samir Gujar's 221 versus Madhya Pradesh at Nagpur in 1991-92. # Vidarbha surpassed its previous highest total in first-class cricket, 583 for nine declared, against Saurashtra at Nagpur in 2014-15. # Just before lunch, Jaffer became the sixth Indian batsman to tally 18,000 runs in first-class cricket. He joined a club comprising Sunil Gavaskar (25,834), Sachin Tendulkar (25,396), Rahul Dravid (23,794), V. V. S. Laxman (19,730) and Vijay Hazare (18,740).