Suved Parkar (104*, 218b, 8x4, 2x6) slammed a hundred on his Mumbai debut, while Sarfaraz Khan (69*, 103b, 8x4, 1x6) and Armaan Jaffer (60, 133b, 7x4, 2x6) hit half-centuries as Mumbai coasted to 303 for three on Day One of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Uttarakhand at the Alur Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Enjoying a smashing start to his first-class career - and that too in a Ranji Trophy knockout game - Parkar reached his hundred by flicking Akash Madhiwal for a four through square leg in the final session. Ironically, Parkar joined the likes of present Mumbai captain - Prithvi Shaw (120 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semifinals in the 201617 season) and head coach Amol Muzudar (260* against Haryana in the Ranji QF of the 1993-94 season) - who too had scored centuries on their Mumbai debut a t the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy.
Thanks to overnight rain, which left the outfield wet, play only began at 10.45 am. After choosing to bat first, Mumbai lost openers, Shaw (21, 20b, 4x4, bowled) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (35, 45b, 6x4, caught at second slip) with 64 on the board in the 15th over, with pacer Deepak Dhampola, who was the lone successful bowler for Uttarakhand, taking all the three Mumbai wickets for 53, striking early.
Walking in at No 4, Parkar added 112 for the third wicket in 227 balls with Jaffer to steady the innings, before the latter was caught brilliantly by Swapnil Singh at second slip off Dhampola.
The 21-year-old, who survived a caught and bowled chance off Swapnil, then added 128 for the unbroken fourth wicket in 204 balls with Sarfaraz to take Mumbai to a commanding position by stumps. Parkar, who has done well while playing for all the age group teams in the past, had staked a claim for a berth in the Mumbai team in April, when he scored an 103* in a 194-run stand with Shams Mulani for the seventh wicket, pulling off an improbable 244-run chase and an incredible win for the Mumbai Under-25 team over Karnataka i n the Col CK Nayudu Trophy quarterfinal, after they'd collapsed to 50 for six on the final day.
Parkar opened the innings for the India team in the U-19 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. Like many Mumbai cricketers, he's the latest 'product' of Dinesh Lad, the childhood coach of the likes of Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur. Thanks to the young turk, Monday happened to be a day of 'double delight' for Lad.
"Today is my 37th wedding anniversary. This is a lovely anniversary gift from him," an elated Lad told TOI.
Brief scores: At Alur 1: Karnataka 213-7 (R Samarth 57; Shivam Mavi 3-40, Saurabh Kumar 467) vs UP. At Alur 2: Mumbai 304-3 in 86 overs (Jaiswal 35, Jaffer 60, Parkar 104*, Sarfaraz 69*; Dapola 3-53) vs Uttarakhand At Alur 3: Punjab 219 (Abhishek 47, Anmolpreet 47, Anmol 27, Sanvir 41; Datey 3-48, Anubhav 336, Saransh 2-45) vs MP 5-0. At Just Cricket: Bengal 310-1 (Raman 41, Easwaran 65, Gharami 106*, Majumdar 85*) vs Jharkhand
