Sachin Yadav
Jaipur: It was far from an ideal opening Ranji Trophy match for Sachin Yadav, who scored just 1 and 0 against Tamil Nadu last week, but the left-hander did not put a foot wrong on Sunday. The opener expertly negotiated a tricky opening hour of Day One against Railways in Rajasthan ‘s Group ‘D’ fixture at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Stadium, anchoring the innings to reach his second First-Class century with an unbeaten 115 off 221 balls. Playing in only his fifth First-Class match, the young opener proved exactly why he is highly regarded, striking 15 fours and two sixes. Karan, a centurion in the previous match, picked up right where he left off and looked well on his way to another hundred, sitting unbeaten on 89 (122) with nine fours and two sixes. The 22-year-old holds a promising pedigree, having scored a magnificent 130 against Delhi and a 92 on debut last season against Mumbai. Supported by Lamba, who survived a late slip drop off Zubair Ali on 7, the duo guided the hosts safely through to the forced stoppage.
That is why I did that particular celebration which I took from KL Rahul’s books to communicate that this is my place,” he said after the day’s play. My strategy was just to bide my time instead of rushing into things,” he said. The milestone arrived when he deftly pushed a delivery from seamer Adarsh Singh to third man for a sharp single. The moment triggered an ecstatic celebration, a passionate leap into the air, followed by a nod to KL Rahul’s style as he drew a circle on the pitch and firmly stomped his bat right in the centre. The left-hander focused on playing session by session. “The overcast conditions gave the bowlers some initial movement. Throughout the day, Sachin remained a calming presence at the crease.