CHENNAI: Not for nothing did Punjab Kings pay Rs 9 crores to buy back Shahrukh Khan in the recently-held IPL auction.
The reason why they bid intensely for the youngster was the fact that he plays all the formats in the same fashion and hits the ball really hard like former India player Virender Sehwag.
Delhi were on the receiving end on Saturday as Shahrukh Khan went on a rampage, slamming a career-best 194, thereby ensuring a 42-run lead for Tamil Nadu against the Pradeep Sangwan-led side on the third day of the Ranji Trophy being played at Guwahati.
Chasing Delhi’s imposing total of 452, Tamil Nadu lost Sai Kishore, Kaushik Gandhi (55) and Vijay Shankar and were in dire straits at 162 with half the team back in the pavilion.
B Indrajith, who made a valuable 117, looked solid, playing positively from the word go and when Shahrukh joined him, it was a batting fest for Tamil Nadu as the duo sent Delhi fielders on a leather hunt.
Indrajith was judicious in his shot selection. In contrast, Shahrukh was aggressive, carting anything short of length to the fence.
“It was a magnificent effort from Shahrukh. We were all enjoying his game. It is after a long time that we have seen a swashbuckling effort from a Tamil Nadu batsman. It was a great innings under immense pressure and the way he effortlessly hit the boundaries at will showed hid class,’’ said M Venkataramana, chief coach of Tamil Nadu.
“In the morning and when we were five wickets down, there was a bit apprehension whether we would get past Delhi target. But the way Shahrukh Khan was playing, we were confident of bagging the lead. Kaushik and, in particular, Indrajith, with his valuable ton, set the tone and later Shahrukh consolidated on the platform laid by Indrajith,’’ added, the former NCA coach.
Old-timers who were watching the game live were bowled over by Shahruk Khan’s fireworks and recalled the time when the late TE Srinivasan used to enthral the fans with his brilliant stroke play.
Shahrukh raised 134 runs with Indrajith for the sixth wicket and later with N Jagadeesan added 178 runs for the seventh wicket. Shahrukh struck Pradeep Sangwan for three consecutive fours to show his class.
“The wicket was good to bat, but one had to concentrate hard as Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan was shuffling his bowlers quite often. But Shahrukh was watchful and such was his domination he made the Delhi bowlers bowl in the areas that he wanted,’’ said Venkataramana.
Select Scores
Group A: Meghalaya 148 & 191 in 53.5 ovs (Thampi 4/43) lost to Kerala 505/9 d in 140.4 ovs. Group B: Hyderabad 347 & 269/8 d in 62.0 ovs vs Chandigarh 216 (Rakshann 5/61) & 21/2 in 8 ovs. Group C: Karnataka 481 & 63/1 in 17.0 ovs vs Railways 426 in 128.3 ovs (Arindam 105, Gowtham 4/127); Pondicherry 343 in 104.3 ovs vs Jammu & Kashmir 426 in 114.1 ovs (Samad 103, Iqbal 96). Group D: Mumbai 544/7 d in 157.0 ovs (Sarfaraz 275) vs Saurashtra 220 & 105/0 in 30.0 ovs (Patel 64 n.o); Goa 181 & 87/2 in 32.0 ovs vs Odisha 87/2 in 32.0 ovs ( Amogh 42). Group E: Rajasthan 275 & 316 in 92.2 ovs (Menaria 79) vs Andhra 224 & 100/4 in 28.0 ovs. Group G: Maharashtra 415 in 143.3 ovs (Pinal 219) vs Assam 248 & 82-3 in 35.0 ovs; Uttar Pradesh 301 & 32/2 in 16.0 ovs vs Vidarbha 548/6 d in 151.0 ovs (Fazal 192, Wadkar 102). Group H: Delhi 452 in 141.2 ovs vs Tamil Nadu 494 in 107.5 ovs(Shahrukh 194, Indrajith 117); Jharkhand 169 & 133 in 49.2 ovs lost to Chattisgarh 174 & 129/2 in 25.5 ovs.