Buchi Babu tournament: Pradosh, Indrajith, and Boopathi boost TNCA XI

TNCA XI shines with three half-centurions in Buchi Babu tournament against Mumbai, setting up an exciting day two.

TNCA XI had three half-centurions on day one of the Buchi Babu tournament fixture against Mumbai here on Tuesday.

While Pradosh Ranjan Paul (65, 87b, 4x4) and B. Indrajith (61, 115b, 7x4) engaged in a 74-run stand for the third wicket, No. 5 batter Boopathi Vaishna Kumar (63 batting, 121b, 6x4) played till stumps as the host reached 294 for five.

Pradosh played late and ran hard for his runs (seven twos and four threes) as his first boundary came off the 66th ball he faced. Just as he started to get expansive, Tanush Kotian trapped him in front of the wicket. Indrajith — who was in the middle of a chanceless knock and after notching up his third consecutive fifty-plus score — lost his stumps to off-spinner Himanshu Singh.

On a day that also saw a drizzle interrupting the proceedings in the afternoon, a compelling sequence of events happened at the boundary line as the players were about to call it a day.

Shreyas Iyer was bowling the 90th over in an action quite similar to Sunil Narine’s. Suryakumar Yadav had fielding duty in the deep-midwicket boundary and had a fair few young enthusiasts asking for his autographs and pictures. The India T20I captain obliged to as many requests as possible in between Shreyas’ darting off-spinners. As if this was not enough, R. Sonu Yadav deposited the final ball of the day well over Suryakumar’s head before the fans rushed inside the ground to continue showering their love. An engrossing day two awaits at the Sri Ramakrishna College Cricket Ground.

The scores: TNCA XI 294/5 in 90 overs (Pradosh 65, Indrajith 61, Boopathi 63 batting) vs. Mumbai; Toss: TNCA XI.