Ranji Trophy: Abhinav Mukund's 206 puts Tamil Nadu in command

CHENNAI: If the opening day of the Tamil Nadu-Baroda Ranji clash belonged to medium-pacer M Mohammed, Day 2 saw opener Abhinav Mukund standing out with his 242-ball 206.
Abhinav notched up his seventh double century in first-class cricket that helped Tamil Nadu declare their first innings on 490 for 7 at the Motibaug ground in Vadodara on Wednesday. In reply, Baroda were 10 for no loss - trailing the visitors by 306 runs.
Commencing the day from his overnight score of 73, Abhinav reached his 31st first-class century off 116 deliveries aided by 18 fours. Abhinav's 23rd Ranji hundred saw him equal S Sharath's record for most number of centuries hit by a Tamil Nadu player in the premier domestic competition.
Abhinav didn't slow down after reaching the three-figure mark and continued to go for his shots. Abhinav accrued 82 runs in the first session and was on 155 at the stroke of lunch. L Suryaprakash (75, 15x4), Kaushik Gandhi (19, 4x4) and Dinesh Karthik (49, 8x4, 1x6) too chipped in with useful contributions. "The outfield was fast and batsmen were able to get value for their shots. I was striking the ball well and didn't want to let go off this opportunity. Once I got to the 100, I was keen to get a big one," Abhinav told TOI.
Abhinav was fluent in his stroke-making, smashing 34 boundaries, and made most of the lives offered to him by Baroda's fielders. He was dropped twice in the post-lunch session, the first of which was by Baroda wicketkeeper Viraj Bhosale off Baba Pathan's bowling with Abhinav on 161. Abhinav - when on 173 - benefitted by Ahmadnoor Pathan's ordinary effort at short-cover region off Yusuf Pathan's bowling.
Those blemishes notwithstanding, the 30-year-old got to his double ton and put TN in a strong position. Abhinav had last hit a double hundred back in 2013 against Saurashtra. "I had crossed the 150-run mark on a few occasions in the last few seasons but a double hundred eluded me. It's nice to get one today but this knock will be memorable if we go on to win the match," said Abhinav.
With Baroda over 300 behind, the visitors will want to wrap things up on the penultimate day. "The wicket still has something in it for the bowlers. We have had a terrific day today and hope our bowlers can finish things off," said skipper B Aparajith.
Indrajith retired hurt: B Indrajith retired hurt after suffering cramps on his left hamstring while going for a run during his innings of 25. "He underwent an MRI scan. There are no injury concerns but Indrajith won't take the field as a precautionary measure," said a team official.
Scoreboard:
Baroda 1st innings: 174. Tamil Nadu 1st innings (O/N 135 for no loss): Abhinav Mukund c Devdhar b Pandya 206, L Suryaprakash b B Pathan 75, K Gandhi c Devdhar b Swapnil 19, B Aparajith lbw Swapnil 8, D Karthik lbw b Pathan 49, B Indrajith retired hurt 25, N Jagadeesan c Bhosale b Pathan 29, A Tanwar b Pandya 9, M Mohammed n.o. 54, R Sai Kishore n.o. 10; Extras (lb 2, nb 3, w 1) 6; Total (For 7 wickets declared in 108.4 overs): 490; FoW: 1-172, 2-219, 3-252, 4-331, 5-391, 6-411, 7-431; Bowling: Anureet 14.4-3-86-0, Sheth 7-1-32-0, B Pathan 22-4-104-1, Solanki 9-0-43-0, Pandya 21.2-0-81-2, Swapnil 13.4-0-75-2, Pathan 21-1-67-2. Baroda 2nd Innings: K Devdhar batting 9, A Pathan batting 0; Extras (nb 1) 1; Total (For no loss in 6 overs): 10; Bowling: Tanwar 2-0-9-0, Mohammed 2-1-1-0, Sai Kishore 2-2-0-0