Ranji Trophy: Ton-up Indrajith & Aparajith make it Tamil Nadu’s day

Ranji Trophy season with a fluent 117 against Delhi, Baba Indrajith (127, 21x4) notched up yet another hundred this time against Chhattisgarh as Tamil Nadu were 308-4 on Day 1 of their clash at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday. Apart from Indrajith, twin brother Baba Aparajith too made it count with an unbeaten 101 (8x4, 2x6) as their 206-run third wicket stand was the highlight of Tamil Nadu’s innings. While Aparajith was his sedate self, Indrajith was in an aggressive mood.

It took the latter just 109 balls and one session --- the post-lunch --- to notch up his 11th First-Class hundred. Chhattisgarh’s bowling line-up lacked the sting to test Indrajith who arrived at the fall of opener L Suryapprakash (21, 3x4) in the first over after lunch. From being 59 for 2, the Indrajith-Aparajith pair laid the foundation for Tamil Nadu’s innings with their 285-ball partnership.

While Indrajith was dealing majorly in boundaries, Aparajith was happy playing the second fiddle. The duo brought the 50-run partnership --- in the 40th over of the innings --- with Indrajith contributing 35 in it. Indrajith raised his 50 in just 69 balls.

A bulk of Indrajith’s runs were scored off left-arm spinners --- Sumit Ruikar and Ajay Mandal. While Indrajith accrued 42 runs off Sumit which included five fours, Ajay accounted for 25 that had 3 hits to the fence. As Indrajith raced to 88, Aparajith crossed the 50-run mark in 131 deliveries.

Indrajith took just three deliveries to move from 88 to the three-figure mark in the last over before tea. That over, bowled by medium-pacer Shashank Singh, saw Indrajith hit three back-to-back boundaries to get to the three-figure mark. The 27-year-old moved from 88 to 92 with a four over long-on, followed