Mohammed Azharuddeen’s comeback into the Ranji team, after a four-year hiatus, turned memorable with a cultured knock of 85 which was the cornerstone of Kerala’s dominant day against Chhattisgarh in their Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International stadium here on Saturday.
His sweetly timed shots weren’t a revelation on this day, but his temperament was. Azharuddeen’s well-paced innings carried Kerala to a challenging 350. Medium pacer M.D. Nidheesh, with a probing spell at the fag end, took two wickets in an over, reduced the host to 100 for four and enabled Kerala finish the second day on a high.
If not for a defiant unbeaten 50 by Sanjeet Desai, Chhattisgarh would have been in deeper trouble. Sanjeet repaired the innings along with Ashutosh Singh (31) after the host lost openers, Shashank Chandrakar and Rishab Tiwari cheaply. Sanjeet added 75 with Ashutosh for the second wicket to frustrate the visitor. But Nidheesh bowled with sustained hostility in his second spell and dismissed Ashutosh and Amandeep Khare in the same over.
