NAGPUR: When 37-year-old Faiz Fazal played his favourite shots — a straight drive, a cover drive and a fluent glance off the pads — in the first session itself, he seemed to be in for a cracker of a match. The skipper held the Vidarbha innings together on a dicey wicket while batting against Railways. With Faiz in the middle, things were looking rosy for Vidarbha until former India leg spinner Karn Sharma turned the innings on its head with a 8-wicket haul of Day-1 on Tuesday.
It was a topsy-turvy opening day at the Ranji Trophy season opener at Jamtha stadium. It had a calming century from Faiz (112; 219b, 12x4), a 112-run partnership between Faiz and Atharva Taide (43), and Karn's precision in attacking the stumps, which ultimately put Vidarbha on a sticky wicket.
