Ranji Trophy: With fighting 80, Tamil Nadu’s Baba Indrajith continues to knock on Indian team’s doors | Cricket News

During his 206 minutes stay in the middle, the only occasion Baba Indrajith’s bat came in violent contact with anything was when he punched it with his right hand after offering a return catch to Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Right through his 139-ball innings, no batsman looked as fluent as Indrajith did.
A score of 80 looked every bit short of a score he personally had in mind, but on a slow, two-paced pitch, it was worth a three-figure knock. The disappointment of missing out on a century in a Ranji Trophy knockout that would put him on the selectors’ radar was evident, but this was a knock that helped Tamil Nadu retain control of their quarterfinal against Saurashtra.
Apart from Indrajith, a well-crafted 65 from Boopathi Vaishna Kumar and a fighting 60 from R Sai Kishore at No 3 meant Tamil Nadu comfortably overtook Saurashtra’s first innings total of 183, and at stumps on Day 2, were placed 300/6. With Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Ali still in the middle, Tamil Nadu are aiming for a lead of at least 150 on Day 3 at the SNR College grounds here. With the cracks already opening up and the odd ball shooting low, defending champions Saurashtra have a real job on their hands to pull back control of the game.
When Pradosh Ranjan Paul fell as the third wicket, Saurashtra were threatening to crawl back into the game in the first session. With Sai Kishore at the other end relying mostly on big hits to fetch runs, Indrajith didn’t hesitate a bit to do the hardwork. For the first 78 balls he faced, all that Indrajith focussed on was rotating the strike, never letting Saurashtra spinners to settle down to a line. Against two left-arm spinners – Jadeja and Parth Bhut – who could run-through any opponents on a helpful track, TN nullified them to a great extent ensuring there was a left-right pair throughout the innings until Vijay and Ali joined together late in the day.

far the best player against spin, Indrajith’s plan was simple. “I’m generally a boundary-scoring player, especially against the spinners. But, this season, on these slow pitches, when I go into bat, the ball is generally old. So, it is not easy to pierce the gaps. I told Sai that I will pace my innings taking singles,” he would say at the end of day.
And having gotten used to the pace of the pitch and with newcomer Boopathi in the middle, off the 79th ball he stepped out and lofted Jadeja for his first boundary over mid-on. From there on, Indrajith didn’t look back. With Boopathi being steady and also using his feat, Saurastra’s spinners lacked the control they desired. With the two using their feet even to pierce the gap for singles and doubles, Jadeja, Bhut and off-spinner Yuvrajsinh Dodia erred at times pitching it short, and were duly punished. In the first half-an-hour after tea, the two batsmen hit eight boundaries and a six as the lead kept swelling for TN.
“It was an important partnership for both of us. Having played a few five-day matches, I know that a lead of 40 or 50 or 60 runs won’t matter. We needed more than 100 runs, especially on this pitch. When you bat in the fourth innings and the pitch is deteriorating, there will be pressure and it will be a different ball game. I wanted to make sure that we finished the day well. I did not expect us to have a good lead,” Indrajith would say about the 119-run stand between him and Boopathi for the fifth wicket.
Personally, this was another innings where Indrajith proved why he ought to be auditioned for a middle-order slot in the Indian team. Since 2017 (minimum 40 matches), no middle-order batsman in the world has scored more than Indrajith’s 3498 runs.
In this period, he has scored 13 centuries and has an average of 63.60, but has rarely found a place even in India A squads. Last season despite showing remarkable consency, Indrajith didn’t even find a place in the South Zone Duleep Trophy squad. And this season, he had to start all over again. And after scoring 128 against Chandigarh, 48 & 98 vs Karnataka, 187 vs Punjab, this innings on Saturday was another example of how good he is against spinners on a slow pitch. There was no better testament to it than a strike-rate of 57.55, while facing the old ball, on a pitch where batsmen from both sides have struggled for timing.

Vital runs in Ranji knockouts tend to add more weight. Having put TN in the quarters, Indrajith will again go back and wait to see if his name at least makes the India A cut.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 183 vs Tamil Nadu 300/6 (Baba Indrajith 80, Boopathi Kumar 65, R Sai Kishore 60; Parth Bhut 2/76).