Ajay Kukna
Acknowledging his threat, Railways centurion Saif, who struck 103 not out off 118 balls (8×4, 4×6), said, “This pitch wasn’t really an outright result wicket and no bowler was that difficult to play. With the surface giving bowlers virtually no room to maneuver, the match meandered to a tame draw as Railways safely reached 176/2 in their second innings when stumps were drawn. Because taking five wickets in the last match and four wickets here is no easy feat, but I would specially praise Kukna,.
Rajasthan’s hopes of pressing for an outright victory were hampered by injuries to key bowlers. Pacer Akash Singh hurt his right hand while completing a caught-and-bowled dismissal of Mohammad Saif in the first innings, while left-arm spinner Ajay Kukna developed finger swelling, leaving him unable to bowl at full capacity. The Rajasthan captain backed his young pace attack, saying, “First of all, our bowling attack is not weak. And, we have to introduce young players into the side eventually, so we are looking ahead and building them. They need to be prepared and gain experience, and this is the exact time for our young bowlers to gain that exposure,” he explained.
JAIPUR: Echoing the outcome of their opening fixture against Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan once again settled for three points as their Ranji Trophy Group ‘D’ match against Railways ended in a draw at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Wednesday, securing the advantage courtesy of a first-innings lead.
Any hopes Rajasthan harboured of forcing an outright victory on the placid track were firmly dashed by a third-wicket partnership of unbeaten 155, compounded further by the team’s young and inexperienced bowling attack. Rajasthan captain Kartik Sharma acknowledged the team’s inability to extract wickets. “The plan was to get them out quickly and enforce the follow-on, and that’s exactly what happened. But later on, wickets stopped coming. Plus, our bowlers Akash and Kukna got injured. Hopefully, Kukna will recover by the next match and we will know about Akash’s status soon,” he added.