Prashant Chopra makes grand opening in Ranji Trophy 2017

Prashant Chopra unbeaten third-wicket stand of 264 with Paras Dogra (99*), flattened Punjab’s bowling attack.

Himachal Pradesh opener Prashant Chopra put to sword the Punjab bowling attack to make an unbeaten 271 on Day One — the second most number of runs made by a batsman in a day in Ranji Trophy history. Bhausaheb Nimbalkar, who made 277 in a day during his 443 not out nearly 70 years ago, is the only batsman who has a tally greater than Chopra’s. The 25-year-old nearly scored at a run a ball and faced just 289 deliveries. His breezy knock contained 37 fours and one six. Chopra’s previous best in First-class cricket was 237.

His unbeaten third-wicket stand of 264 with Paras Dogra (99*), flattened Punjab’s bowling attack, which comprised pacers Barinder Singh Sran and Sandeep Sharma. Prashant Chopra was an integral member of India’s 2012 U-19 World Cup squad.

Opening the innings with captain Unmukt Chand, he struck three half centuries in the showpiece event. He was Himachal’s highest run-getter in the last Ranji season, aggregating 978 runs from 9 matches, which included three centuries. Rishi Dhawan, Himachal Pradesh’s all-rounder termed Friday’s knock as “extraodinary”. “He is an aggressive stroke-player. However, the beauty of this knock was the manner he paced his innings. The wicket was a little sluggish, and he batted with considerable restraint in the morning session,” Dhawan explained.

Chopra will not be available for Himachal’s next Ranji game as he has been selected for the two ODIs against New Zealand A. Chopra is a Solan native, but has played his cricket in Sector 16 in Chandigarh, where his father Shivkumar Chopra is a coach. The 25-year-old loves listening to Punjabi pop songs and is a die-hard Salman Khan fan.

Around the Country

Group A

Ishant leads from the front

At Feroz Shah Kotla: Delhi vs Assam 224/7 (Gokul Sharma 51, S. Purykayasta 57 no; Ishant Sharma 3/31).

In his first game as Delhi captain, Ishant Sharma’s three-wicket burst reduced Assam to 224 for 7 on Day 1. Gokul Sharma, was the top-scorer with 51, before he was done in by Delhi’s debutant left-armer Kulwant Khejrolia.

Railways derailed on Day 1 In Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh 9/0 vs Railways 182 (Ashish Yadav 53 not out; Ankit Rajpoot 3/30).

Rained out in Hyderabad In Hyderabad: Day 1 of Maharashtra vs Hyderabad game washed out.

Group B:

Saurashtra pegged back In Lahli: Saurashtra 271/7 (P. Mankad 68, Cheteshwar Pujara 35; A. Hooda 4/59) vs Haryana

Rajasthan ride on Robin’s ton In Jaipur: Rajasthan 249/ 4 (Robin Bist 105, Mohd Mudhaseer 3/66) vs J&K

Saxena spins a web In Thiruvanthapuram: Jharkhand 200/9 (Ishan Kishan 45; Jalaj Saxena 6/50) vs Kerala

Group C:

Bhatt wrecks havoc In Chennai: Tamil Nadu 176 vs Andhra 8/0 (Baba Aparajith 51; Bharghav Bhatt 4/52)

Bundela comes to the party In Baroda: Madhya Pradesh 268/5 vs Baroda (Devendra Bundela 99; Shubham Sharma 88 batting; Irfan Pathan 1/32).

Veteran middle-order batsman Devendra Bundela fell one run short of his 27th first-class century, but his 199-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shubham Sharma helped Madhya Pradesh register 268/5 on Day 1 against Baroda. Electing to bat, Madhya Pradesh lost both their openers – Waseem Ahmed and Rajat Patidar – cheaply, leaving Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh to take the innings forward. However, the duo were both dismissed in quick succession to leave Madhya Pradesh reeling at 4/69 in the morning session.

Group D

Kaif restores parity in proceedings In Porvorim: Chhattisgarh 189 for 5 (Mohd Kaif 49 not out; Darshan Misal 2/15) vs Goa.

Chatterjee’s ton propels Bengal In Palam: Bengal 341/3 (Sudip Chatterjee 144 not out) vs Services.

n Sudeep Chatterjee struck an unbeaten century to propel Bengal to 341/3 against Services at Palam Ground. Chatterjee was unbeaten on 114 and added 153 runs for the third wicket with skipper Manoj Tiwary and 63 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand with Wriddhiman Saha.