Ankit rescues Chandigarh

Deepankar Sharda

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

After a dominant and exhilarating performance against Arunachal Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy debut, the city boys were faced with a tough situation on the first day of their second match, against Bihar, at the Sector 16 Stadium today.

The home team was on the back foot until Ankit Kaushik and Bipul Sharma, both former Himachal Pradesh players, took charge.

Bihar had gained a commanding position by restricting the hosts to 118/5, but Kaushik and Sharma stitched an unbeaten partnership of 156 runs to take Chandigarh to 274/5 at the draw of stumps.

Kaushik returned unbeaten at the close of play with 106 runs off 174 balls, including 18 boundaries and one six, while Sharma posted 63 off 115 balls, studded with seven boundaries.

The 28-year-old Chandigarh-born Kaushik played for Himachal Pradesh but returned to represent his hometown after the Union Territory Cricket Association got affiliated with the Indian cricket board.

Kaushik made his First-Class debut for Himachal in 2017. Back in Chandigarh, he recently did a fair job for Chandigarh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring two half-centuries.

Though Kaushik did not get a chance to bat in the opening Ranji tie against Arunachal Pradesh, he proved his mettle today. Playing on a tricky wicket, the stylish right-handed batsman handled the situation calmly. Known as a fine player of spin bowling, Kaushik tackled today’s top wicket-taker, left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman, quite competently. Incidentally, last season Aman broke Bishan Singh Bedi’s record of most Ranji Trophy wickets in a single season.

Kaushik is focused on the job — he preferred to not speak with the media even after emerging as the saviour for Chandigarh on Day 1 as he wanted to be left alone.

Arslan 50

Bihar skipper Aman won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first.

Chandigarh coach VRV Singh brought in Karanvir Singh for the injured Barinder Singh Sran, while Bihar made no changes in their team from the last match.

Last match’s star Arslan Khan opened the innings for Chandigarh with Shivam Bhambri. Both had scored centuries in their previous outing, but Bhambri lasted only seven balls, dismissed by Shashi Shekhar for 1.

Khan was joined by skipper Manan Vohra and the duo revived the innings by raising a 62-run partnership.

After the lunch break, Bihar skipper Aman dismissed Khan (51 off 61 balls, with 11 boundaries) with the team’s total at 68. In his next over, the left-arm spinner claimed the seasoned Uday Kaul (0) and then removed Raman Bishnoi (5) to reduce the hosts to 76/4.

Vohra was then joined by Kaushik and the duo raised a 42-run partnership before Aman struck again, dismissing Vohra. The skipper made 41 off 94 balls, studded with seven boundaries.

Bihar, who started their Ranji season with a 10-wicket defeat to Puducherry, were in a dominant position but Kaushik and Sharma then fought back and would hope to put Chandigarh on top by extending their partnership tomorrow.

Aman was the best bowler for Bihar with figures of 4/57.

Where are the ball boys?

The officials were a bit concerned about the absence of ball boys at the boundary ropes, fretting over time wasted when the fielders themselves had to go to collect the ball from beyond the boundary. Overnight dew had delayed the start of the match, in the afternoon bad light added to their worries. A total of 78 overs were bowled today. “We had hired ball boys for every match in previous tournaments. At some specific venues we don’t have proper boundaries and they are needed to collect the ball,” said UTCA secretary Desh Deepak Khanna. “However, they may not have turned today due to it being so cold today. But we have not received any official complaint or suggestion by the officials.”

Brief scores

Punjab 274/5 (Ankit Kaushik 106*, Bipul Sharma 63*, Arslan Khan 51; Ashutosh Aman 4/57, Shashi Shekhar 1/43) vs Bihar