Vijays double pushes Rajasthan to the brink

During a passage of play between lunch and tea that seemed suspended in time,Hrishikesh Kanitkar picked up a small spent hot air balloon from the ground that had descended near him

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During a passage of play between lunch and tea that seemed suspended in time,Hrishikesh Kanitkar picked up a small spent hot air balloon from the ground that had descended near him,and gave it to the umpire. There was one more thing lying deflated out there that the Rajasthan captain tried hard but couldn’t lift: his team’s morale.

It was pricked into near lifelessness by Murali Vijay as the opener picked up on Day Three of the Irani Cup from where he left off on Saturday on unbeaten 151. He kept heaping on more misery on the hapless Rajasthan bowlers,who while finding some help from a pitch that was wearing out and keeping low,found none whatsoever from their equally worn-out fielders as they dropped catches and missed run-outs with alarming regularity.

Vijay,a beneficiary of this generosity on more than one occasions,went on to obliterate the 22-year-old record for the highest Irani score (Praveen Amre’s 246) before finally holing out to long on while attempting the seventh six of his 266-run knock that lasted 618 minutes across three days.

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It was also Vijay’s highest first-class score,surpassing his previous best of 243 against Maharashtra during the 2008-09 Ranji season. While that high had immediately fetched him a maiden Test cap,it remains unlikely that the latest will earn him an instant recall. But having laid a soild platform in the opening match of the season,he’ll put himself into the mix again,if he keeps building on from here. However,if he doesn’t,it won’t take long for this Irani performance to be forgotten. And for proof,Vijay needs to look no further than his Rest of India team mate Shikhar Dhawan,who had scored two centuries against Rajasthan in the last edition,did practically nothing during the remainder of the season,and is doing drinks duty here.

On Sunday,though,Vijay largely started with the right intent,and was aggressive as well as watchfull,except for a few occasions when he nearly ran himself out. He knocked off 49 runs in 52 balls,with the all important runs came after he stepped out and smashed left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh right back to move from 196 to 200. As Vijay took off his helmet,raised his bat and hugged statemate Badrinath,his bearded face was dripping sweat and relief in equal measure.

Fielding the culprit

There were more runs to be made,though,with Rajasthan fielders refusing to back their bowlers in fact,it was a bowler,Sumit Mathur,who was the culprit more than once,dropping first Vijay,who was on 220,and then Dinesh Karthik. Eventually when Vijay did get out trying to hoick off-spinner Madhur Khatri,it was more out of fatigue,by which time,however,he had put his team in a commanding position 530 for three,with the leading swelling to 277.

Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik also made half-centuries before falling to Deepak Chahar and Khatri respectively. Chahar seemed to have woken up on the right side today,as he moved the ball both ways,showed good control while also ranging in the high 120s on the speed gun. He knocked back Badri’s off-stump with a ball that moved away after setting the batsman up with in-cutters. Later in the day,Chahar brought one back in sharply to disturb Stuart Binny’s timber. He might not get to bowl again in the match but Sunday could serve as a template as to how he needs to bowl during the rest of the season.

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Khatri also got the ball to turn and ended up with three wickets,but by then Rest of India had crossed the imposing 600-run mark and Cheteshwar Pujara declared soon after.

And what awaits Rajasthan was evident almost immediately as Pujara unleashed his thoroughly rested bowlers on the Ranji champions. After being cover driven for a four off a loosener by Ankit Lamba,Ishant Sharma sent down a peach of a delivery. It pitched in line,at a length,moved away enough to kiss Lamba’s willow on its way to the wicket-keeper. It was a ball that must have scared the Rajasthan dressing room,but Kanitkar walked out and ensured they ended the day at 43 for 1. On Monday,he’ll be in a familiar situation: trying to lift the team’s spirit.

SCORECARD

Rajasthan Ist innings: 253; Rest of India Ist innings: A Rahane (run out) 81,M Vijay c Singh b Khatri 266,C Pujara c Yagnik b Choudhary 78,S Badrinath b Chahar 55,KD Karthik lbw b Khatri 56,W Saha (not out) 29,S Binny b Chahar 3,Harmeet Singh b Khatri 1,P Ojha (not out) 0,Extras (b 14,lb 9,w 5,nb 10) 38; Total (7 wickets decl) 607. FoW 1-173,2-326,3-467,4-530,5-596,6-599,7-600; Bowling: A Choudhary 34-8-112-1,D Chahar 27.1-2-99-2,S Mathur 24.5-3-89-0,G Singh 41-4-149-0,M Khatri 37-4-125-3,V Saxena 1-0-10-0; Rajasthan 2nd innings: A Lamba c Karthik b Sharma 4,V Saxena (not out) 17,H Kanitkar (not out) 21,Extras (lb 1) 1; Total (for one wicket) 43. FoW 1-4; Bowling: I Sharma 4-0-17-1,U Yadav 4-1-17-0,S Binny 2-1-4-0,PP Ojha 2-1-4-0.