Ranji Trophy: Uday silences critics with double ton against Mizoram

CHANDIGARH: What's the situation of the Punjab-Andhra match? That was Chandigarh wicketkeeper-batsman Uday Kaul's first reaction after slamming an unbeaten double century to propel the hosts within sniffing distance of an outright victory over Mizoram at the Mahajan Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Coming back to the tale of the double centurion, it is one of those rare instances in Indian cricket when two siblings are playing simultaneously for different teams and the elder one is more concerned about the performance of the younger brother.No prizes for guessing it right, it's the Kaul brothers.
While Siddharth starred for Punjab with a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick in their four-wicket win over Andhra Pradesh, the elder sibling Uday silenced his naysayers with an uncharacteristically fast-paced 212 not out off 273 balls, including 28 hits to the fence. This innings was somewhat due from the 100-first class game veteran, as his best score before this game was a mere 44.
"I was batting fluently in the last couple of innings, our batting also comes once in a match (considering the quality of most of the opposing sides). But today the application was right and I am happy that it came finally," Uday told TOI after the second day's play here.
"There's a massive difference while playing for Elite and Plate sides, you know the opposition and the bowlers of Elite teams. But in Plate group, it's somehow difficult to predict what the bowlers have in mind, the same ball can come as a full toss and the next one can be at good length. So it's a good test for a batsman. You have to be ready," he added.
"My plan was to bat as long as possible and get over the poor string of scores. There could be a couple of good balls here and there but at this level you need to meddle those and come out successful," he further said.
But it wasn't about Uday alone on the second day. Resuming their innings at 193, the two overnight batsmen Uday and Raman Bishnoi went all guns blazing from the word go. Raman went about his customary approach and brought up his third century of the season in 148 balls before Uday went one step ahead to complete his century off 140 deliveries.
Mizoram found a ray of hope when Raman was caught by Bobby off Sumit at the stroke of lunch, after the right-hander had scored 139 off 179 balls that included 17 fours and a six. He was replaced by another right-hander in Ankit Kaushik, who looked in ominous touch right from the first ball.
It was only a matter of one session literally for Ankit, who headed for lunch at 8 not out off 34 balls, and complete his century before the tea session. At the breather, Ankit was batting on 129 off 132 balls.
Coming back, both Uday and Ankit stepped on the gas as Mizoram bowlers found the going tough on a pitch that hardly had deteriorated after more than 100 overs of play. In no time, Uday played a perfect drive to the long on boundary to bring up his double century and in the very next over, Ankit got to his 150 with a straight six off Bobby.
At one point it appeared, Ankit looked set to outscore his senior partner Uday, who praised his approach as "street smart".
"It has been a great season for both the youngsters. Both Raman and Ankit have got three centuries each in their first year of first class cricket, you can't ask for more. They are not satisfied with one or two hundreds, that is the best part. You need to have that hunger for runs," Uday said.
"Ankit has been on a roll, his innings was effortless today. He could have easily outscored me today, we all know what he is capable of. He has a matured head over his shoulders and he was street smart today," he signed off.
At stumps on day 2, Mizoram were tottering at 48 for 3 in their second innings, with captain KB Pawan unbeaten on 11. The visitors had already conceded a mammoth 478-run first innings lead and will require a herculean effort from the batters to save this match.