Ranji Trophy: Baba Indrajith slams ton, surpasses 5,000 FC runs
Tamil Nadu's Baba Indrajith played a sensational knock on Day 1 against Punjab in the 2024 Ranji Trophy. The star batter hammered his 16th FC century and his second of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Indrajith's watchful 181-ball 122* was laced with six boundaries. He completed his milestone in 157 deliveries and kept consolidating. Tamil Nadu finished Day 1 with 291/4.
A calculated knock from Indrajith
Indrajith joined forces with the in-form Narayan Jagadeesan but unfortunately, the latter was soon dismissed before they could stitch up a big stand. However, he added 43 runs with S Mohammed Ali before stitching an 184*-run partnership with the experienced Vijay Shankar. The duo looked in complete control as they dominated proceedings. Both batters are unbeaten and will look to add to their tally.
Indrajith completed 5,000 runs in FC cricket
Courtesy of his knock, Indrajith has raced to 5,000 runs in First-Class cricket. Before the start of the match, he needed 70 runs to complete the milestone. Currently, he has scored 5,052 runs from 73 FC matches at an average above 52. Along with 16 centuries, he also owns 25 fifties in this format. Notably, he missed out on a century (98) against Karnataka.
Two centuries in the 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign
The 29-year-old batter is enjoying a sensational 2024 Ranji Trophy campaign with 541 runs from seven matches at an exceptional average of 77.28. He has smoked two centuries and as many fifties this season. As per ESPNcricinfo, he is the 11th-highest run-getter this season and second-highest among Tamil Nadu batters. He is only behind Jagadeesan, who has amassed 749 runs.
Decoding his scores this season in 2024 Ranji
Indrajith started with 4 and 39 versus Gujarat. He smashed 58* versus Tripura next and was out for 18 versus Railways. Next up, he hit 123 versus Chandigarh. Scores of 24 and an unbeaten 7 followed against Goa. He hit 48 and 98 versus Karnataka.
Indrajith performed well last season as well
Indrajith was pretty decent in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy campaign as he amassed 505 runs from seven matches at an impressive average of 50.5. He hammered a solitary century along with three fifties. Despite his heroics, he was the fourth-highest run-getter for Tamil Nadu. He was behind Pradosh Ranjan Paul (631), Sai Sudharsan (572), and Jagadeesan (534) in terms of runs last season.
How has the match progressed?
Batting first, Tamil Nadu lost opener Suresh Lokeshwar early on before they faced another blow in the form of Pradosh. They were eventually 64/3 when Indrajith and Mohammed added 43 runs before the former stitched an unbeaten 184-run stand with Shankar. The duo took TN's total beyond the 290-run mark. TN finished Day 1 at 291/4 with Indrajith (122*) and Shankar (85*) currently batting.
