Dream Double: India Red’s Baba Indrajith

Baba Indrajith’s double hundred in the ongoing Duleep Trophy must be rated as one of the most dramatic knocks ever by a Tamil Nadu batsman in the domestic competition. It is not the magnitude of the number of runs he made playing for India Red against India Blue that is significant, but the conditions in which he achieved the feat are remarkable. When the last batsman (Vijay Gohil) came into bat, Indrajith was on 60 and India Red was in danger of getting bowled out for just over 200. Not only did the Tamil Nadu batsman reach his hundred but he even showed his prudence while shielding his partner in a stand that was worth 178 runs, which was almost the same score that the rest of the Red batsmen mustered together. 

“It was a special innings,” Indrajith told DT Next from Kanpur. “I was not even thinking of a hundred at that stage. But from that stage to have reached 200 was a dream.” In the end when he got out, Indrajith had faced 280 balls for his 200, hitting 20 fours and six sixes. 

How did the last-wicket partnership grow? “It was very simple. Initially, I was very protective of him. I gave him one or two balls to face in every over, but when I could not get a single off the last ball, he had to bat against the main bowlers from the first ball of some overs.  To his credit, he showed excellent temperament and even lasted the full over at times, which gave me the confidence,” Indrajith explained. 

“So much so, I started getting singles in the middle of the overs and he faced more number of balls,” Indrajith said, adding. “He was defensive in the beginning but later when the part-time bowlers came on, he even attacked them.” The TN batsman said he was not even looking at 150 when he completed his hundred on the first day. When the pair resumed on the second morning, he told his partner to play for another 30 runs or so and one hour but what followed was beyond expectations. 

“He offered sound defence and I could get to 150 with normal shots. However, when it took only two overs for me to reach 180, I started thinking of the 200-mark,” Indrajith recalled. 

However, India Blue took the first innings lead on Saturday. At a time when the relevance of Duleep Trophy is being debated, was his innings noticed? “Selectors Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh were at the venue and they came and wished me after the knock,” said Indrajith. With Ranji Trophy about to commence next month, has he set himself any goals? 

“This is a very good start for me to the season. I want to score consistently and break into the India A squad,” he said. Earlier this year, he had managed to find himself in the India A team, but he could not get a place in the playing XI. When reminded of Tamil Nadu’s strength in the shorter formats, Indrajith said he wanted to be sound in the basics so that he could play in all forms of cricket. 

Interestingly, Indrajith had practised on the terrace of his colleague and one-day captain Vijay Shankar’s house before embarking on the Duleep Trophy campaign. “We did mostly the throw down with both the balls, tennis and cricket. The pink ball (in Duleep Trophy) was slightly difficult to pick, especially the seam and shine but once you get used to it in a few overs, there was no problem,” he signed off.