Ranji Trophy 2017: Sudip Chatterjee’s hundred gives Bengal upper hand against Services

Sudip Chatterjee hit a fine hundred to put Bengal in a strong position on Day one of the Ranji Trophy season. (IE Photo Partha Paul)

Bengal batsman Sudip Chatterjee hit the perfect notes on the opening day of the Ranji season. The left-handed batsman hit a fine hundred against Services in an away fixture in New Delhi on Friday.

On a flat track in Palam, the Services skipper Nakul Harpal Verma opted to bowl first. The Bengal batsmen responded well to the challenge as they dominated all the sessions on the first day’s play. Openers Abhishek Raman and Abhimanyu Easwaran forged a partnership of 98 before Raman was undone by fast bowler Pandey.

Easwaran also departed soon after for 65 but captain Manoj Tiwary and Chatterjee dug deep and took on the bowling attack in New Delhi. Chatterjee’s innings was a combination of solid defence along with some good stroke making as he punished every bad delivery that came in his way. Services on the other hand, not only had a hard day with the ball but were also dismal in terms of fielding as they dropped three catches on day one.

Enroute to his hundred Chatterjee was also handed a lifeline and the southpaw capitalised on this chance to the fullest as he went to score 114* taking Bengal to 341/3 at stumps.

In an exclusive interaction with The Indian Express, Chatterjee spoke about his knock and said, “This is is the first game of the Ranji Trophy season and I’m glad about the way it has started for me. Now I just want to proceed in the same manner and want to go a long way,” he said.

“It’s a good track to bat on. The ball is coming a bit slow but there’s not much movement so it’s easy once you get settled,” he added.

Talking about the second day’s play the Bengal batsman insisted that the morning session would be a crucial one. “The new ball has been taken so we need to get our eye in the morning session and then we can play our natural game once we get settles in the middle.”

When asked about the atmosphere in the dressing room, Chatterjee revealed the kind of support the players get from Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohammad Shami. “We all stay like a family and Manoj da (Tiwary), Wriddhi da (Saha) and Shami da are all very helpful. “

Lone Warrior for Services

While Chatterjee showed his class with the bat on Friday for Bengal, Services did have something to cheer about and it was the effort from their fast bowler Sachidanand Pandey.

“Pandey ji” as he was being fondly called by fellow teammates was impressive with his performance on a track that was favourable to batsmen. With a decent run-up and an orthodox bowling action, he did catch a lot of attention and emerged out to be a lone warrior for Services.

Pandey broke the shackles and got the much-needed breakthrough for his side just before lunch. It was Pandey who bagged the wickets of a well-settled Raman and later scalped Easwaran with a delivery going away from him. Courtesy of his efforts, Pandey returned with figures of 2/36 in 17 overs. But despite an early breakthrough in the second session, Services were thoroughly dominated by Chatterjee and Tiwary.