CHENNAI: A few cursory scrolls through Abhinav Mukund's Twitter feed is enough to summarise his life's story for the past two months or so.
Peppered with a nimiety of 'congrats, bro's, 'gr8 batting, man's, 'ur making us proud...'s, skimming through his textual avalanche of a social-media account is almost like quickly thumbing your way through a flip book that crisply chronicles Abhinav's blazing form with the willow during that period.
A total of 248 runs at an average of 82.67 in the Duleep Trophy that included a massive hundred (against India Green); 252 runs in five Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) outings that also comprised two match-winning knocks in the semifinals and finals; two hundreds, a fifty, and the breaching of the 8,000-run mark in first-class cricket last month as Tamil Nadu's skipper in the Ranji Trophy.
Even as Tamil Nadu's and Baroda's players walked off the field for a lunch break during the second day of their Group A Ranji clash in Raipur on Sunday, his Twitter feed was accosted by yet another slew of congratulatory messages. Reason? He'd notched up his third Ranji century this season in only his fifth game.
“Obviously, it's a good feeling to get to the three-figure mark. But, I was disappointed to not convert it into a big one,” said the Southpaw after the end of day's play at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.
“Indra (Baba Indrajith) and I had a good partnership. He was very compact throughout. It was difficult as the ball was seaming around initially. I left alone deliveries outside the off-stump and focussed on playing out their initial spells.”
After this century, Abhinav's Ranji tally this season stands at 438 runs at an average of 62.57. Concatenate this with his form over the last two months, and the current injury-and-lukewarm-form-induced predicament plaguing the top-two batting slots of India's batting order, and these numbers might as well be a hoarding intended for the selection committee which spells out these words in bold: 'Abhinav is an option, too'.
And they have take notice indeed, considering that the southpaw's name did the rounds in those administrative echelons during their last meeting. But, be it creating a flutter or not, stoic is the operating keyword for Abhinav.
“I've been out of the Indian team for almost six years now, right? I think for someone to be stuck up on that is genuinely a little hard,” he explained with a chuckle. “I've been an out-and-out domestic cricketer for a while, and I want to continue doing that. If my selection happens, then so be it. I am working hard, yes, but I'm not thinking too much about that.”
rahulravi@newindianexpress.com