The hosts won a good toss and expectedly chose to bat first. The pre-match talks about a rank turner notwithstanding, the pitch didn’t play badly on day one.Vinay Choudhary’s maiden five-for – 6/62 – in first-class cricket saw Punjab gain the upper hand on the first day of their Ranji Trophy, Elite Group B fixture at the JU Salt Lake campus ground on Monday. On a dry pitch, the visitors preferred to play an extra spinner, so Choudhary replaced medium pacer Baltej Singh in the XI. It turned out to be a very smart move.
Choudhary is not an automatic pick in this Punjab side. This was his fourth Ranji Trophy match of the season. The 25-year-old made his debut in 2013. Over the past five-odd seasons, the left-arm spinner only featured in 14 matches at this level before this game. But in a win-or-bust contest for both sides, he rolled over the Bengal batting, sticking to the basics — right line and length. He kept it tight and tested the patience of the batters. The Bengal batting didn’t have the steel to grind it out.
The hosts won a good toss and expectedly chose to bat first. The pre-match talks about a rank turner notwithstanding, the pitch didn’t play badly on day one.
A few deliveries kept a little low, but otherwise it looked good for batting. The morning nip allowed the ball to move in the air and Manpreet Gony had both the Bengal openers, Abhishek Raman and Abhimanyu Easwaran, in the bag inside the opening hour.
The in-form Easwaran fell prey to an incoming delivery and was adjudged leg-before. It was a big blow for Bengal, with Easwaran being the team’s most consistent performer who can bat big.
Manoj Tiwary got stuck initially, and when he tried to break the shackles he got out. Choudhary’s delivery turned enough to take the outside edge to Mandeep Singh at first slip, as the Bengal captain attempted an expansive drive.
Off the block
The spinner was off the block. He then accounted for Writtick Chatterjee, Sudip Chatterjee, Amir Gani, Shreevats Goswami and Ashok Dinda to return with his most successful bowling figures yet.
From Punjab’s point of view, Sudip’s dismissal was vital, as it broke a 65-run sixth wicket partnership between him and Goswami. Both failed to build on their starts, perishing in the 50s. Choudhary, on the other hand, relished his moment in the spotlight.
“The pitch had some moisture in the morning, which helped. We bowled well in pairs and it put the pressure on the batsmen. It was important to bowl in the right areas. The odd deliveries turned, (but) Yuvi paaji (Yuvraj Singh) and Mandy paaji (Mandeep Singh) told me to keep it simple and I did that. I was enjoying myself,” Choudhary said.
In the home dressing-room, Bengal team mentor Arun Lal was mighty disappointed. “The pitch is fine. We didn’t play good cricket. We have only ourselves to blame for the situation,” Lal told The Indian Express. The former Bengal and India opener is struggling to cope with the fact that the batsmen have been repeating their mistakes. They are throwing away the starts.
“I’m finding it very difficult to understand. Why should you get out after scoring fifty, on a wicket which is absolutely fine? Especially in the afternoon, after lunch, it became a perfect batting track.
“So no excuses. Just a lack of concentration, lack of belief, lack of match situation and game awareness. It’s a failure,” he said, hoping that the bowlers would bring the side back into the game like they did in the last match against Delhi. All said and done, this was the second match on the spin, when the Bengal vice-captain, Sudip, bungled on a start. Today, he chased a wide delivery from Choudhary.
Punjab finished the day on 47/2, with Shubman Gill batting on 36. He looked a cut above. Even the Bengal camp thinks that the teenager, if he flowers tomorrow, will take the game away from them. “He (Gill) is a free-flowing batsman. He is at the peak of his confidence. He has got a lot of runs. You have to get him out early,” Lal said.
Brief scores: Bengal 187 in 69.1 overs (Shreevats Goswami 57, Sudip Chatterjee 52; Vinay Choudhary 6/62) vs Punjab 47/2 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 36*).
