Internet Desk: A gritty knock (123*) from Abhimanyu Easwaran consolidated Bengal’s position in the Ranji Trophy clash against Uttar Pradesh after Day. Bengal at stumps were 288/3 with Easwaran batting on123 runs along with his captain Manoj Tiwary on 1* at Swai Maan Singh stadium in Jaipur.
It was a collective batting effort by a young Bengal top-order with Easwaran being ably supported by the talented left-hander Sudeep Chatterjee (73) and debutant southpaw Agniv Pan (51).
However the day belongs to young Easwaran, who notched up his second first class hundred. His unbeaten 123 came off 241 balls with 18 boundaries — his second in Ranji Trophy after his 150 not out against Tamil Nadu back in 2015.
A satisfied looking Abhimanyu was happy to play his role to perfection. Talking to xtratime.in Abhimanyu said, “I was asked to bat responsibly without taking too many risks at the start. All I was asked by the team management was to give a solid start at the beginning.”
Talking about his innings today, Easwaran commented, “I felt Ankit Rajput was bowling really well and looked dangerous among the other UP bowlers. So, I just kept my focus and played the ball to its merit. I told Sudip (Chatterjee) and Agniv (Pan) to see the overs of Ankit.”
This was Abhimanyu’s second first class hundred. The talented batsman has really worked hard under VVS Laxman. “Laxman Sir really helped me a lot with my techniques during the Vision 20-20 camp. His tips have helped me a lot.”
Abhimanyu also heaped a lot of praises for debutant Agniv for the way he supported him at the crease. “He batted with a lot of positive mindset which made my work easy in the middle. All we have to do now is stretch the total as much as we can” said a tired Abhimanyu.
Earlier, Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Easwaran and Sayan Sekhar Mondal (30) provided a steady start with a stand of 64 in 20 overs.
Left-handed Mondal, who has shown improved performance after being promoted to opening during late last season was just getting set when UP’s only successful bowler Ankit Rajpoot (3/72) got one to move a shade away after pitching with Ekalavya Dwivedi holding onto the edge.
The elegant Chatterjee then joined forced with Easwaran as the duo added 132 runs with minimum fuss in shade under 40 overs. The found the gaps with ease as neither veteran leggie Piyush Chawla (0/36 in 16 overs) nor young chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (0/63 in 23 overs) could provide with a breakthrough.
Both Chatterjee and Easwaran weren’t deceived by Kuldeep’s wrong ‘un while they did not take much risk off Chawla’s bowling occasionally punishing the loose balls.
Both drove well off the front-foot against the pacers and waited for the turn playing both the spinners off the backfoot. Chatterjee, who recently played for one of the sides in Duleep Trophy, hit some flowing cover drives in his 11 hits to the fence.
Just when Bengal was approaching 200-run mark, Chatterjee was bowled by Rajpoot after facing 140 balls for his 73.
However Chatterjee’s dismissal ddin’t break the tempo as young left-hander Agniv showed a lot of maturity as he gave Easwaran company adding 86 runs for the third wicket.
The former Bengal U-19 stumper hit six boundaries in his 81-ball knock as he reached his maiden half century on debut.
However just as Bengal was looking to play out the day, Agniv became Rajpoot’s third victim on a personal score of 51.