Baba brothers hit hundreds on opening day

The Baba twins, Indrajith and Aparajith, struck contrasting hundreds to put Tamil Nadu in the ascendancy against Chhattisgarh at stumps on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group H fixture in Guwahati.

At the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday, Indrajith (127 off 141 balls, 21 fours) and Aparajith (101 batting off 197 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes) combined for a 206-run third-wicket partnership, which helped Tamil Nadu reach 308 for four at close of play.

Opening batters Kaushik Gandhi (27 off 43 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) and L Suryapprakash (21 off 72 balls, 3 fours) saw off the new ball but both failed to convert their starts. The Baba brothers joined forces at 59 for two when Suryapprakash was sent back to the hut by Chhattisgarh left-arm spinner Ajay Mandal (2/82).

While Indrajith was the aggressor of the two, Aparajith was content with playing second fiddle and picking the odd boundaries. Indrajith was particularly severe on left-arm orthodox Sumit Ruikar, hitting him for 42 runs off 41 deliveries, including five fours.

The 27-year-old smashed three consecutive boundaries off Shashank Singh to complete his second successive Ranji ton. “I am pretty pleased with my form. Whenever I get my eye in, I try to make a big score. I did not plan to play aggressively; I just went with the flow. Initially, I took a bit of time,” Indrajith told DT Next.

Talking about the special partnership he stitched with Aparajith, Indrajith said: “I share a good rapport with him in the middle. We have played together a lot. This is the first time both of us have scored a hundred in the same innings of a first-class match. I am very happy.” Meanwhile, Aparajith brought up his century with a single.

Chhattisgarh made a sort of a comeback in the third and final session, removing Indrajith and skipper Vijay Shankar (0) in a span of two overs. Shahrukh Khan (28 batting off 54 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) was at the crease with Aparajith when the curtains were brought down for the day.

Tamil Nadu, which won the toss and elected to bat, drafted in left-arm spinner Manimaran Siddharth in place of pace-bowling all-rounder Saravana Kumar.