CHENNAI: A captain's knock by Ishan Kishan (125 not out) and a valuable half century (64 batting) by Sahil Raj batting lower down the order came in handy for Jharkhand to post a respectable 307 for 6 in 90 overs against Tamil Nadu on the first day of the Ranji Trophy being played at Coimbatore on Wednesday. Ishan and Sahil were involved in an unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 150 runs from 39 overs which helped the visitors to get back on track.
Opting to bat, Jharkhand lost their opener Shikhar Mohan cheaply who was castled by a peach of a delivery from Gurjapneet Singh.
While Sharandeep Singh was fluent at one end, at the other end Kumar Suraj could not force the pace and was overdefensive. DT Chandrasekar, who is making a come back to the team after a long gap, ended Suraj's struggles by castling him.
After that Virat Singh made a good start but could not convert the same.
Ishan was cool and composed in his stay, chose the right ball to attack and showed that if one applied the mind, runs were easy to get.
"To restrict them to 307 for six is pretty good as the wicket was good to bat upon. So still we managed to restrict them to around 300. We would have been happier had we got a couple of wickets more," said M Senthilnathan, chief coach of Tamil Nadu. "But always, you know, you have to find those wickets how to get it. Ishan and Sahil played well. So I think tomorrow morning is a fresh day to get a couple of wickets. Break this partnership. I think we should be able to get them early," he added.
Gurjapneet bowled accurately hitting the deck in the right areas. Chandrasekar also bowled efficiently, testing the Jharkhand batters with his guile. But as the game progressed, particularly in the afternoon, they erred in line and length and could not get purchase.
"Gurjapneet and DT bowled well in the morning after that they drifted a bit as Ishan was striking the ball well. You see, they bowled a better line and length in the first session. But once Ishan came, I think they bowled a little bit shorter. So the Jharkhand batters were able to negotiate better," said Senthilnathan.
"So I think they should have bowled a little bit fuller length, where they could allow the ball to move a bit more to get him (Ishan) out. So I think probably they will learn that," he added.
Both Sandeep Warrier and Gurjapneet are playing after recovering from Injuries. They bowled without any discomfort.
"It is good to see both these guys bowl full throttle. They bowled well and looked in good shape. Gurjapneet in particular bowled with good rhythm and that's why he could bag three wickets," explained Senthilnathan.
Meanwhile, J Hemchudeshan and RS Ambarish made their debuts. "Hemchudeshan and Ambarish made their debuts and were fairly good. Hem bowled well, actually in the middle session he really tightened them (Jharkhand batters) and checked the run flow. Ambarish, probably was a little rusty. So hopefully, he'll come good tomorrow," hoped the TN coach.
He believed that on the whole it was a learning experience for the youngsters in the side and hoped they will adapt quickly. "So I think on the whole, it was a tough first day. But they did a good job getting six wickets. Also actually, there wasn't any catch they dropped or something like that to say we could have taken those catches. No, nothing came and nothing got dropped. So its a good lesson on how to go about on a first day of First class cricket. Hope they all bowl in unison to break the partnership and get them out quickly on Thursday," signed off Senthilnathan.
