Ranji Trophy: ‘Nighthawk’ takes flight as Ajith Ram tons up for Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: 28-year-old Ajith Ram made the most of the opportunity to notch his maiden century (115), while Pradosh Ranjan Paul converted his overnight score into a second double ton, putting Tamil Nadu in a commanding position in its Ranji Trophy Group D encounter against Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Ajith wasn’t supposed to walk out at No.7 originally but Ajitesh’s early dismissal brought about a change in assignment for the left-hander. Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh wanted the 28-year-old to negotiate Chandigarh’s ‘second new ball’. 

The left-hander did considerably more than that, turning his unexpected promotion into a maiden first-class century (115), and notching up a 126-run partnership with Pradosh. 

“Grateful for the opportunity because I was not supposed to go in, but they took their second new ball, and the coach wanted me to bat the first hour in case a wicket goes down,” Ajith told DT Next after the day’s play.

“I wanted to make sure that I negotiate that first hour, which is going to be difficult. If something was going to happen—whether it was quick movement or anything like that—I went in primarily to cut that out.”

But as the day progressed, the left-hander vindicated Mahesh’s move, taking his opportunity against Chandigarh’s bowlers after the end of the first hour’s play. The left-hander eventually notched up his maiden first-class century (115) and stayed unbeaten. 

“After the first hour, I started looking for some runs, and I was in that process. Whatever I tried, be it a lofted shot or sweep, it was helping me, and I was able to get runs and rotate strike with Pradosh. Because of him, there wasn’t too much pressure on me,” Ajith added. 

“He [Pradosh] guided me on which balls to play on this wicket, and what were some of the scoring options. It was a great experience overall.”

At the end, Pradosh ensured that he got to his second double century in the Ranji Trophy, and his highest score in the red-ball tournament in a largely error-free innings from the left-hander. 

“He [Pradosh] is always a player who grinds it out. Right from the start, the wicket was difficult for left-handers when spinners were bowling, but he negotiated that brilliantly. I can’t put it in words, but I have been watching him from Under-16, Under-19 days, and he’s always been good. It was incredible to watch him from the other end."

“I also started gaining confidence that I can bat like him, and he kept pushing me, and I tried my best to help him out in whatever way possible.”

With 20 overs left in the day, Tamil Nadu took the brave call of declaring on 571/7. It paid off for the visitors as skipper Sai Kishore led from the front with two wickets, while Gurjapneet Singh struck once from the other end to reduce the hosts to 49/3. Ajith gave an insight into the visiting dressing room’s strategy, stating that their intent will always be to take ‘20 wickets’ and go for six points. 

“Our intent will be to try and bowl them out initially. If we do it sooner, we will go all-out for six points; that is always our intent. We want to always take those 20 wickets.”

The plan also was quite simple, “We needed to look to exploit that rough created by pacers. Otherwise, we will try to bowl the stump line as much as possible, because there is some low bounce because of black soil.”

Brief Scores: Chandigarh 49/3 (Arjun 21; Kishore 2/14) trails Tamil Nadu 571/7 decl. (Pradosh 207, Ajith Ram 115, Jagadeesan 52) by 522 runs