In control: Gharami scored his 10th First Class half-century.du
| Photo Credit: File Photo: K. MURALI KUMAR
After Tripura dropped two catches to grant a lifeline each to Sudip Kumar Gharami and Shakir Habib Gandhi, the duo would have converged at the middle of the pitch, bumped gloves, and muttered, “Carpe diem!” before helping Bengal claim all three sessions on day one of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C fixture.
On Saturday, Gharami and Shakir scored fifties and remained unbeaten in the third-round game at the Maharaja Bir Bikram Stadium here. To be sure, the deck was batter-friendly, but credit where due, the pair chose their shots well — largely choosing to play through the line.
Costly drops
When he let a fifth-stump ball kiss the sticker of the bat in the 19th over, it was the only time Gharami looked hesitant to offer a shot. Fortunately for Bengal, Hrituraj Ghosh Roy dropped the sitter at slip. Meanwhile, Bikram Kumar Das reprieved Shakir on 47 to add insult to injury.
Earlier, opener Kazi Junaid Saifi, cramped for space by an Abhijit Sarkar delivery that hung low, was adjudged caught behind for a duck in the second over. The left-handed batter, however, wasn’t impressed with the umpire’s call, suggesting he may not have nicked that one.
Tripura bowlers failed to control Bengal batters on the first day.
A few would have been jolted from their postprandial torpor (bhaat ghum, as they call it in these parts) in the 34th over when a section of onlookers mistook a bump ball for a Vijay Shankar blinder at cover. Gharami, the batter in question, added to Tripura’s woes when he strolled to his 10th First Class half-century at a leisurely pace six overs later.
Easy to bat
With the sun beating down hard in the second session, batting became easier, and soon Shakir followed his partner’s footsteps.
After tea, Shakir was looking to accelerate and get to his hundred before stumps were drawn, but bad light put off his plans.
Scoreboard: Bengal — 1st innings: Sudip Kumar Gharami (batting) 70, Kazi Junaid Saifi c Sentu b Abhijit 0, Shakir Habib Gandhi (batting) 82; Extras (b-12, lb-6, w-1): 19; Total (for one wkt. in 60 overs): 171.
Fall of wickets: 1-4.
Tripura bowling: Murasingh 16-5-30-0, Abhijit 13-3-38-1, Rana 13-3-47-0, Bikramjit 8-2-11-0, Swapnil 6-0-20-0, Vijay Shankar 3-1-4-0, Sridam 1-0-3-0.
Toss: Tripura.
Published – November 01, 2025 06:31 pm IST
