Vijay Shankar, who last played for India in 2019, brought up his 11th first-class century today (January 25), scoring his career-best of an unbeaten 150 during the Ranji Trophy clash between Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.
Tamil Nadu were in a spot of bother at 46-4 at Salem when Shankar joined opener N Jagadeesan at the crease. He got going immediately, going on to smash an unbeaten 150 in 171 balls.
Shankar stands tall after top-order collapse
Tamil Nadu had posted 301 in their first innings, with Shankar scoring just one. In reply, Chandigarh were dismissed for 204, giving the hosts a healthy lead. However, they came back into the game after sending back the top four batters within 21 overs, which is when Shankar walked out.
Together with Jagadeesan, Shankar anchored the innings, stitching 152 runs for the fifth wicket. The former was dismissed by Vishu Kashyap for a 124-ball 89 but Shankar motored on. He brought up his second ton of the season in 133 balls and then quickly moved on to 150, scoring his next fifty runs in just 38 balls.
Shankar’s knock contained as many as five sixes and he also hit 12 fours, ending with a strike rate of 87.72 before Tamil Nadu declared at 305-5. Chandigarh, set a target of 403, were 113-5 at stumps on day three.
The knock has continued his fine red-ball form this season. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he has scored 399 runs in seven innings at an average of 79.80. Overall, the all-rounder has scored 3,625 runs in 68 first-class matches at an average of 46.47 with 22 fifties as well. He has also taken 39 wickets with best figures of 4-52.
Shankar played 21 international games for India, including representing the side in the 2019 ODI World Cup. He has not played for the team since the tournament.
How did the other India internationals fare?
The day was headlined by Shubman Gill's hundred, whose 102 was not enough to save Punjab from an innings defeat against Karnataka. Prasidh Krishna scalped two wickets during the big win.
Mumbai's game against Jammu and Kashmir was the big upset, though. J&K registered only their second win against Mumbai, beating them by five wickets. India skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal both did not have memorable outings, while Ajinkya Rahane (16), Shreyas Iyer (17), Shivam Dube (0) were unable to make an impact in the second innings either. Shardul Thakur, who did not travel to Australia for the recent Test series had earlier smashed his second ton in the format on Friday.
Rajat Patidar and Venkatesh Iyer scored 92 and a 70-ball 80, respectively for Madhya Pradesh against Kerala. Ruturaj Gaikwad hit a marathon 89 for Maharashtra, while Wriddhiman Saha, playing his penultimate first-class game, was unbeaten on 25 for Bengal.
Image credit: JioCinema
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