Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
Paras Dogra is 40 years old. He made his first-class debut in 2001-02. Originally from Himachal Pradesh, he captains Jammu and Kashmir these days. The second day of the Ranji Trophy match between Jammu and Kashmir and Mumbai in Srinagar belonged to the veteran. His unbeaten century kept the hosts in the game.
Against Mumbai’s 386 all out, Jammu and Kashmir finished the day on 273/7, still 113 runs adrift, but with an outside chance of taking a first-innings lead. Losing Abid Mushtaq (40), who added 68 runs with Dogra for the seventh wicket, was a blow. But as long as their skipper is there, Jammu and Kashmir would hope.
It was Dogra’s 33rd first-class hundred, 32nd in Ranji Trophy. It took him past Ajay Sharma to the second spot in the all-time list of the century-makers in this tournament. Wasim Jaffer towers over the rest with 40 hundreds.
This ton came under serious pressure. Jammu and Kashmir lost their first two wickets inside the first two overs and they soon slumped to 32/3. From there, Dogra started the rebuilding job, first with a 94-run fourth wicket partnership with Abdul Samad (44) followed by his association with Mushtaq.
Earlier, resuming on overnight 336/5, Mumbai lost their last five wickets for 50 runs. Shams Mulani, 79 overnight, was dismissed on 91. And there wasn’t much resistance from the tail. Medium-pacer Yudhvir Singh returned a five-for.
As far as Mumbai’s bowling was concerned, Shardul Thakur was expensive, giving away 69 runs in 11 overs for a wicket. Debutant Irfan Umair got his maiden first-class scalp by accounting for Qamran Iqbal. Tushar Deshpande and Tanush Kotian bagged two wickets apiece.
Brief scores: Mumbai 386 (Shams Mulani 91; Yudhvir Singh 5/96) vs Jammu and Kashmir (Paras Dogra 112 batting; Tushar Deshpande 2/34).
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