Abhinav, Sudeep pass ‘Pink Test’ with flying colours
It was purely a 'Batsman's Evening' with Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and talented Bengal boy Sudeep Chatterjee's twin tons took India Red to a commanding 354-run lead against India Green on the second day of the Duleep Trophy here on Wednesday.
After the bowlers ruled the roost with 17 wickets on the first day, it was the turn of southpaws Abhinav (162 batting, 212 balls) and Sudeep (114, 182 balls) to conjure up a 240-run partnership for the second wicket.
The Reds reached 344/3 at stumps after bowling out the Green team for 151 in their first innings with young Rajasthan pacer Nathu Singh picking up 6/53 in 12.4 overs of brisk fast medium bowling.
However, the second day's play was all about the domination of Abhinav and Sudeep on a pitch that got slower considerably and the much talked about pink ball hardly made any difference even under the lights. The movement off the pitch was minimal which made it easy for batsmen to negotiate.
Mukund, who scored 77 in the first innings, looked more comfortable of the two at the outset as he played the trio of Ashoke Dinda, Ankit Rajpoot and Sandeep Sharma late from the crease relying on shots square of the wicket and the occasional upper cuts.
Sudeep was cautious initially before he opened playing a number pull shots.
However, the moment spinners Jalaj Saxena (1/69) and Pragyan Ojha (0/45) were introduced, both the left handers used their feet to good effect as they came to the pitch of the ball with ease.
There were times the slowness also contributed as both had enough time to rock onto backfoot and hit on the on-side. Sudeep's familiarity having played Ojha and Dinda in Bengal nets also helped him.