M Shahrukh Khan has been Tamil Nadu's go-to man this season. From his last-ball six sealing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Tamil Nadu's favour --- to scoring consistently in the ensuing Vijay Hazare Trophy Shahrukh has been in the thick of things. On Saturday, the 26-year-old's blistering 194 (148 balls, 20x4, 10x6) --- his maiden first-class hundred along with Baba Indrajith (117, 17x4, 2x6) helped Tamil Nadu score 494 in their first innings on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy clash against Delhi in Guwahati.
Tamil Nadu's first innings lead could have been much more than 42 runs if not for Delhi's left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra who shone with figures of 6 for 108. Beginning the day with 377 runs in arrears, Tamil Nadu lost Sai Kishore (11), skipper Vijay Shankar (5) and Kaushik Gandhi (55) to be placed on 162-5. While Sai Kishore was run out, Vikas accounted for Shankar and Kaushik. Shahrukh, with a well set Indrajith --- batting on 62 --- for company, didn't take long to make his presence felt. Shahrukh's first scoring shot was a boundary over backward point region in the fourth ball he faced. Both Indrajith and Shahrukh matched each other shot-for-shot and their 134-run partnership for the 6th wicket from 146 balls changed the complexion of the contest.
By the time Indrajith departed after scoring his 10th first-class ton, Shahrukh was just 30 away from his maiden ton. Shahrukh switched into top gear during the 178-run seventh wicket stand with N Jagadeesan (50). Shahrukh was particularly severe on Delhi pacers --- Pradeep Sangwan, Kuldip Yadav and Simarjeet Singh. Out of 194 runs Shahrukh scored, 121 came from the pace trio. By the time, Nitish Rana (2-42) trapped Shahrukh leg-before, Tamil Nadu were placed 474-7. Vikas then bagged the last three wickets to give Delhi something to cheer.
Shahrukh may have fallen six short of a double hundred but he was pleased with his effort. "More than missing a double hundred, I was happy that my innings helped Tamil Nadu take a first-innings lead. This knock will always remain special not only because it's my maiden hundred but it came at a time when the team needed the most. I would have felt miserable if my innings had not helped our side finish strongly," Shahrukh told TOI.
Scoreboard:
Delhi 452;
Tamil Nadu 1st innings (O/N 75-2):
Kaushik Gandhi c Rawat b Vikas Mishra 55, Sai Kishore run out 11, B Indrajith lbw b Rana 117, Vijay Shankar c Jonty Sidhu b Vikas Mishra 5, Shahrukh Khan lbw b Rana 194, N Jagadeesan lbw b Vikas Mishra 50, M Mohammed n.o. 18, Saravana Kumar b Vikas Mishra 0, Sandeep Warrier lbw b Vikas Mishra 0;
Extras (b4, lb2, nb11, w4) 21;
Total (All out in 107.5 overs): 494;
FoW: 1-53, 2-56, 3-79, 4-136, 5-162, 6-296, 7-474, 8-486, 9-492, 10-494;
Bowling: Sangwan 21-1-107-0, Simarjeet Singh 17-5-68-0, Kuldip Yadav 18-2-105-1, Vikas Mishra 31.5-3-108-6, Rana 10-0-42-2, Lalit Yadav 8-0-41-0, Dhull 2-0-17-0.
